By Kuda Pembere
The United States Government will hold talks with the Zimbabwean Government pending the withdrawal of condom programming support via the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2026.
Public sector condoms in Zimbabwe are mainly funded via PEPFAR which occupies the majority of the market share at 77 percent followed by social marketing condoms with 22 percent and the private sector having 1 percent.
While condom programming remaining a core component of the five UNAIDS preventive pillars, the new US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Pamela Tremont at a press conference in Harare commended the country for attaining the 95-95-95 targets for HIV control ahead of schedule.
“You know, as I said before, PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, has been possibly one of the most successful initiatives that we’ve ever taken, particularly in Africa.
“I served in Zambia in the 2010s, as I told you before, and we never could have envisioned the progress that we’ve made here in Zimbabwe, meeting the 95-95-95 goals. So it’s something that we should all be proud of, because obviously we worked with counterparts here to do that,” she said.
Insofar as the PEPFAR program in Africa exceeded their expectations, Ambassador Trremont said it was important to find more sustainable ways to fund health initiatives. Ambassador Tremont said she will engage the Zimbabwean government on the issue of condom programming support.
“But it was an emergency plan. It was meant to be an emergency response to a pandemic that threatened the health of the entire world.
“And now after 20 years, we need to find a more sustainable way to keep those gains going. And so we’ll be talking with the government about how we can sort of right-size that program,” she said.
As of 2023, the U.S government invested over $1.7 billion in Zimbabwe since 2006 to strengthen health systems and support people living with HIV, which has helped Zimbabweans live longer and healthier lives. In 2023 alone, PEPFAR has invested more than $200 million to fund and deliver HIV/AIDS programs in Zimbabwe and save Zimbabwean lives. Every year, PEPFAR injects US$90 million towards the salary and incentives for 21 700 healthcare workers in Zimbabwe including nurses, laboratory scientists, social workers, and community health workers to deliver and improve HIV prevention, care, and treatment services.
She said some of these programs will continue to be supported.
“But our programs for providing medication and transportation for medication, we support the paychecks of health care workers here in Zimbabwe.
“We support the paychecks of Zimbabwean health care workers who serve millions of Zimbabweans. We do education so that vulnerable youth do not get infected and we can avoid them becoming sick,” Ambassador Tremont said. “All of these programs continue, but we do need to find a more sustainable trajectory for that funding.”
