By Alice Mudzingwa HARARE – Young people from across Zimbabwe have called for greater participation in governance and policy-making, urging government, development partners and civil society organisations to create more opportunities for youth leadership and meaningful involvement in national development. The calls were made during a Youth Indaba, where delegates

By Michael Gwarisa RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Zimbabwe is reshaping its HIV prevention strategy by putting communities at the centre of decision-making, using insights gathered from ordinary citizens to guide the country's national PrEP Choice campaign and preparations for the introduction of long-acting injectable HIV prevention, lenacapavir (LEN). Presenting

By Michael Gwarisa RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Zimbabwe has reaffirmed its commitment to ending AIDS among children, with the Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr Douglas Mombeshora, telling delegates at the 13th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (AIDS 2026) that the country remains focused on closing

By Alice Mudzingwa ​HARARE – Young leaders from across Zimbabwe, government officials, development partners, and civil society representatives have gathered in Harare for a two-day National Youth Indaba aimed at strengthening youth participation in policymaking and advancing youth-led solutions to Zimbabwe's development challenges. ​The Indaba is being convened under the

By Michael Gwarisa African countries that rejected the United States’ proposed “America First” health agreements did so in defence of sovereignty, arguing that some of the conditions attached to the deals were unacceptable. However, as PEPFAR funding transitions continue and concerns grow over the sustainability of HIV programmes, governments may

By Michael Gwarisa RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Zimbabwe's Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr Douglas Mombeshora, has called on governments to stop viewing health as a social expense and instead recognise it as a strategic investment that drives economic growth, productivity and national development. Speaking during a high-level

Own Correspondent RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – July 28, 2026 — At the 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026), the world's HIV leaders are on notice. Young people and advocates have one clear message: fund the next chapter of the Global Fund with genuine partnership, not empty promises. Fail to

By Michael Gwarisa in RIO DE JANEIRO An estimated 600,000 people are expected to be receiving the groundbreaking twice-yearly HIV prevention injection lenacapavir by the end of 2026, with the number projected to surpass one million early next year, as global efforts to rapidly expand access to long-acting HIV prevention

By Kuda Pembere Zimbabwe is hosting a five-day Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) Managers' Meeting, bringing together representatives from 21 East and Southern African countries to explore ways of making immunisation programmes more sustainable as governments assume greater ownership of vaccination initiatives. The meeting has attracted development partners, officials from

By Michael Gwarisa For millions of people living with HIV, achieving an undetectable viral load is the ultimate treatment milestone, a sign that antiretroviral therapy is working and that the virus is under control. But scientists are increasingly discovering that what happens in the blood may not tell the whole

By Michael Gwarisa RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Zimbabwean HIV advocate, Tendayi Westerhof has been honoured with the prestigious Ruth Cardoso Movement Building Award, an international recognition celebrating her decades-long advocacy for the rights, dignity and leadership of women living with HIV. Receiving the award at the 26th International AIDS

By Michael Gwarisa RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Zimbabwe is testing an innovative public-private partnership that could transform HIV prevention by integrating community pharmacies into the delivery of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), including long-acting lenacapavir, as the country seeks to make HIV prevention services more accessible and convenient for communities. Presenting

By Michael Gwarisa in RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil UNAIDS says the world now has the tools to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, but warned on Monday that funding cuts and political decisions are threatening to reverse decades of progress despite major scientific breakthroughs. Launching the 2026

By Kuda Pembere Zimbabwe's young people still aspire to build families and secure better futures, but many are being held back by economic hardship, housing insecurity and limited access to reproductive healthcare, a new global survey has found. The findings were unveiled on Friday as the Government of Zimbabwe and

By Kuda Pembere Zimbabwe must urgently strengthen domestic resource mobilisation if it is to sustain gains made in the fight against HIV, tuberculosis (TB), malaria, and in maternal and child health, as the United States Government prepares to end funding for the programmes in September. The call came during a

By Michael Gwarisa HARARE – Zimbabwe has abandoned plans to establish a National Health Insurance Scheme, opting instead for a National Healthcare Provision Programme, a new tax-funded model aimed at providing free healthcare services at public health institutions, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora has announced. Speaking while

By Kuda Pembere St Giles Rehabilitation Centre is seeking more than US$100,000 to furnish a newly constructed adult ward, as the institution looks to expand rehabilitation services despite declining donor and corporate support. The funds will be raised through a fundraising dinner, with hospital officials saying the new ward will

By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe is among the countries hardest hit by recent disruptions to the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), with new data released ahead of the International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Science (AIDS 2026) showing that more than 6,000 fewer children were receiving

By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe's ambition to eliminate mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B is under growing threat as rising adolescent pregnancies and declining antenatal care (ANC) attendance undermine progress towards meeting World Health Organisation (WHO) validation targets. Although the country has made remarkable gains in preventing babies

By Michael Gwarisa A once-weekly pill for HIV treatment has performed as well as standard daily therapy in two landmark Phase III clinical trials, bringing researchers a step closer to offering people living with HIV the world's first complete once-weekly oral treatment regimen. The findings from the ISLEND-1 and ISLEND-2