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 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
By Michael Gwarisa More than 382 students at St Faith's High School in Makoni District, Manicaland Province, have been affected by an outbreak of an acute respiratory illness that has swept through the boarding school since Thursday, overwhelming the school's clinic and leaving eight learners admitted to hospital. The Ministry
By Michael Gwarisa The Democratic Republic of Congo's Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak is accelerating at an alarming pace, with infections surging by 25% in just one week as the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) warned that the virus is spreading faster than response efforts can keep up.
By Patricia Mashiri Women’s leadership is not merely a matter of representation but a constitutional right and a critical driver of Zimbabwe’s development, delegates at the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) High-Level National Indaba heard. The Indaba brought together representatives from the church, traditional leadership, civil society and government to
By Kuda Pembere in Norton Zimbabwe has launched its National Health Strategy (2026-2030), a five-year blueprint aimed at strengthening the country's health system, expanding access to quality healthcare and accelerating progress towards universal health coverage. Launching the strategy at Norton Hospital on Thursday, Minister of Health and Child Care Dr
By Staff Reporter HealthTimes will strengthen its coverage of HIV and AIDS after its Editor, Michael Gwarisa, was awarded a prestigious media scholarship by the International AIDS Society (IAS) to attend the 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026), which will be held from 26–31 July 2026 in Rio de Janeiro,
By Kuda Pembere HARARE – Zimbabwe commemorated its first-ever International Paramedics Day on Tuesday, with health officials using the occasion to highlight the newly gazetted Medical Services Amendment Act, which makes the provision of emergency medical care a legal obligation for both public and private health institutions. The event brought
By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe has enacted sweeping amendments to the Medical Services Act that will require private hospitals to provide life-saving emergency treatment to critically ill patients regardless of their ability to pay, marking one of the country's most significant health law reforms in recent years. The Medical Services Amendment
By Michael Gwarisa When Lydia Zigomo, the UNFPA Regional Director for East and Southern Africa arrived in Zimbabwe for her recent high-level mission, her schedule appeared much like that of many senior United Nations officials. There were meetings with government ministers, engagements with development partners, discussions with young people, visits
By Michael Gwarisa Nearly seven in ten Zimbabweans who previously used daily oral HIV prevention pills abandoned treatment because of the burden of taking medication every day, a new survey has revealed, adding fresh evidence that long-acting injectable HIV prevention could transform the country's fight against new HIV infections. The
By Kuda Pembere, recently in Shamva When Rhoda (not her real name) fell in love with a 19-year-old artisanal miner at the age of 15, she believed she had found a future. Instead, she dropped out of school, became pregnant and was abandoned before her baby was born. Today, at
By Marceline Mukwamba In Zimbabwe, conversations about termination of pregnancy often begin and end with moral discomfort. Too often, they are shaped by silence, fear, misinformation and stigma rather than by the law, medical evidence, constitutional values and compassion for survivors. Yet for a woman or girl who becomes pregnant
By Michael Gwarisa Malawi has received its first shipment of lenacapavir, a long-acting injectable HIV prevention medicine, with enough doses expected to protect 38,000 people, marking another milestone in Africa's rollout of one of the most significant advances in HIV prevention in decades. The arrival of the first of two
By Michael Gwarisa WHO has officially declared the recent hantavirus outbreak over after the last person known to have been exposed to the virus completed quarantine and tested negative. Announcing the development, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the final identified contact linked to the outbreak had safely
By Kuda Pembere Zimbabwe has received cervical cancer diagnostic equipment and cholera treatment tents worth approximately US$350,000 from the World Health Organization (WHO), a major boost to the country's efforts to strengthen cancer care and emergency disease response. The cervical cancer equipment was secured under the Women Integrated Cancer Services
By Kuda Pembere Zimbabwe has become the first country in Africa and only the fourth globally to attain the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT) Maturity Level 4, the highest international standard for medicines regulation. The milestone was revealed on Wednesday by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr
By Michael Gwarisa HARARE – Zimbabwe's commitment to investing domestic resources in family planning is paying dividends, with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) increasing its financial support for reproductive health commodities under a financing arrangement now being recognised as a regional success story. Speaking during a visit to the
By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe will begin using revenue collected from sugar-sweetened beverages and fast-food taxes to finance nutrition programmes and tackle the growing burden of obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) following Cabinet's approval of the National Nutrition Financing Strategy. The strategy, presented by Vice President General (Rtd) Dr. Constantino
By Kuda Pembere in Mashonaland West When 23-year-old Mai Audrey switched to Sayana Press after struggling with side effects from another contraceptive, she simply wanted a family planning method that worked for her. She never imagined her experience would encourage other women in her community to make the same choice.
By Staff Reporter River Valley Group directors Eng. Dr. Mncedisi Dube and Amb. Prof. Smelly Dube were among the recipients of the Top 100 Most Notable Peace Icons of Africa 2026 awards at a continental summit held in Marrakech, Kingdom of Morocco, on June 27, 2026. The recognition, conferred by
By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe will, for the first time, host the Fourth Annual Reproductive Justice Litigation Baraza, marking the first occasion the continental conference has been held outside Uganda since its inception four years ago. Running from August 3 to 7, 2026 in Harare under the theme "Age as a
By Kuda Pembere Stakeholders in Zimbabwe's healthcare sector have called for stronger collaboration among health insurers, healthcare providers, patients, regulators, government and law enforcement agencies to curb healthcare fraud, warning that fraudulent practices are draining resources meant for patient care. The call was made during the Association of Healthcare Funders
By Marceline Mukwamba In Zimbabwe, conversations about termination of pregnancy often begin and end with moral discomfort. Too often, they are shaped by silence, fear, misinformation and stigma rather than
By Michael Gwarisa Malawi has received its first shipment of lenacapavir, a long-acting injectable HIV prevention medicine, with enough doses expected to protect 38,000 people, marking another milestone in Africa's
By Michael Gwarisa WHO has officially declared the recent hantavirus outbreak over after the last person known to have been exposed to the virus completed quarantine and tested negative. Announcing
By Kuda Pembere Zimbabwe has received cervical cancer diagnostic equipment and cholera treatment tents worth approximately US$350,000 from the World Health Organization (WHO), a major boost to the country's efforts
By Kuda Pembere Zimbabwe has become the first country in Africa and only the fourth globally to attain the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT) Maturity Level 4,
By Michael Gwarisa HARARE – Zimbabwe's commitment to investing domestic resources in family planning is paying dividends, with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) increasing its financial support for reproductive