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

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 Anorld Moyo Good legislation is not measured by how quickly it is passed, but by how rigorously it is scrutinised. As Parliament considers the proposed SI330 amendments, its duty is not simply to approve or reject reform—it is to ensure that every significant legal, economic and healthcare consequence has

By Percival Kushure SHAMVA/BINDURA – Recent male engagement initiatives on family planning and reproductive health conducted in Shamva and Bindura districts, as well as at workplaces in Bindura by the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC), are beginning to transform men's perceptions of family planning and reproductive health. More men

By Michael Gwarisa A scabies outbreak has spread through Harare's overcrowded informal settlements, with health authorities confirming 70 cases in Hopley and Stoneridge, raising fresh concerns about the health risks posed by rapid urbanisation and poor living conditions. While the City of Harare recently alerted residents to the outbreak, HealthTimes

By Kuda Pembere Zimbabwe has staged one of the region's most remarkable immunisation recoveries, with HPV vaccine coverage soaring from just six percent in 2022 to 90 percent in 2025, making it the second-highest performer in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The latest figures from the 2025 World Health

By Michael Gwarisa The Government has acknowledged that financial barriers are preventing some pregnant women from accessing life-saving maternal healthcare and says it is finalising legislation that will introduce free healthcare for every Zimbabwean citizen and resident. Responding to concerns raised in Parliament, Minister of Health and Child Care Dr

By Michael Gwarisa Every day in 2025, nearly 17 Zimbabwean babies died every day before reaching one month of life. By the end of the year, the country had lost 6,177 newborns, a heartbreaking toll that translates to almost 119 babies every week. Put another way, it is as if,

By Kuda Pembere The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has engaged social media content creators to help curb the illegal advertising of medicines, warning that influencers increasingly shape public health decisions. The awareness meeting, held on Wednesday, brought together creators from Facebook, X, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube amid growing