By Patricia Mashiri Zimbabwe must intensify prevention advocacy and strengthen community-led HIV prevention efforts to safeguard decades of progress against HIV as shrinking donor funding threatens the country’s response, health experts have said. The call was made during the inception meeting of the Community Monitoring and Engagement for Transformation (COMET)

By Michael Gwarisa As the curtain came down on the 26th AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Bantwana Zimbabwe emerged as one of the organisations attracting international attention after showcasing a community-based model that is helping improve health outcomes for children and adolescents living with HIV. The

By Kuda Pembere National Hero Professor Herbert Mapfumo Chinyanga laid the foundation for Zimbabwe's modern health workforce by championing specialist medical training and establishing the country's anaesthesia profession, health leaders said during a memorial service held in Harare on Friday. The memorial, organised by the Zimbabwe Anaesthetists Association, celebrated the

By Patricia Mashiri Women leaders have called for stronger collective action to accelerate gender equality and women's empowerment, saying Zimbabwe must move beyond commitments and deliver tangible improvements in the lives of women and girls. The calls were made on Thursday during the Women's Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) Annual Women's

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