News:UZ denies 47 percent of students are HIV positive

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<vote /> The University of Zimbabwe has issued a statement describing as fake a report published by the Herald which stated that 47% of the students at the university are HIV positive. Issued on 24 May 2016, the statement says:

The University of Zimbabwe community is absolutely shocked by the gross lack of professionalism exhibited by Ellah Mukwati, a Herald reporter, in a news article that appeared on the front page of the 290 may 2016 edition of the the Herald newspaper under the malicious heading, "47 pc of UZ students HIV +"

In the article, Mukwati misleadingly and unashamedly "directly quotes" the Vice Chancellor, thus implying that she either interviewed or communicated with the Vice Chancellor on the subject. For the record,

  1. The statistic is blatantly false and is meant to sensationalize a 100% unfounded truth. Never at any one time, did the Vice Chancellor, or any other university official, give an interview to, or communicate in whatever manner, with Ellah Mukwati about the HIV status of University of Zimbabwe students. Instead, the reporter plagiarized an earlier question and answer interview the Vice Chancellor had with another Herald reporter but did not seek clarification from the University on the import of the statistic;
  2. In the said survey, the population consisted of very few students who voluntarily underwent HIV testing and counselling, because, one would posit, they shared amoung others, a common characteristic - that of having reason to suspect that they could be HIV positive;
  3. The survey population should not be confused with the broader UZ total student population, then of 12,500, as not all UZ students share(d) the common characteristic in 3 above. As such, the results of the survey cannot and should not be generalised to the wider UZ student population;
  4. The report does not give the sample size (number of students who participated in the survey) in order to give the reader the real meaning of the research results.
  5. In misplaced excitement, the headline mistakenly gives currency to a study that was carried out in about 2010. As a matter of fact, most, if not all of the study respondents have completed their studies and left the institution. To then say "47 pc of UZ students HIV +", as if that is the current scenario, is not only mischievous, but gutter journalism of the worst kind.
  6. The report by Ellah Mukwati is a falsehood that must be dismissed with the contempt it deserves. The story constitutes gross irresponsibility on her part and the Herald, and is a most heinous act against the University of Zimbabwe community and the public interest at large. Freedom of the press carries responsibilities. The press has a duty to maintain the highest possible professional and ethical standards.

As such, the UZ demands that in the true spirit of professionalism, the Herald retracts promptly and with due prominence, the malicious presentation of inaccurate, misleading and unfounded truths by Ellah Mukwati with regards to the health status of University of Zimbabwe students.

Daniel Chihombori Director, Information and Public Relations

The Herald has since deleted the article from its website.


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