By Michael Gwarisa in Gutu
Every morning, 20-year-old Christin Madombi wakes up with a mission. From her modest home in Gutu’s Mutero area, she powers up her tablet and scans through a list of peers—young people just like her, living with HIV. She has 24 peers assigned to her under the Community Adolescent Treatment Supporter (CATS) program.
With each missed alert comes a sense of urgency. The tablet, loaded with a digital tracking tool, shows her who needs a follow-up. Without hesitation, Christin sets out on foot, trekking through the villages of Masvingo Province to locate her peers. Her job is more than data entry. It is about making sure no young person falls through the cracks in the fight against HIV.
Once a month, Christin and her fellow CATS compile their findings and report to the National AIDS Council (NAC) district office. The technology they use may be basic, but it is bridging critical gaps in care and transforming how adherence is monitored in remote areas. At the heart of it all is a new generation of young people, empowered by digital tools and driven by compassion.
Whenever I make a home visit, I update it in the tablet. I input the name, the place, and the date when the visit was done. This ensures I stay up to date and no one among the 24 children assigned to me misses treatment under my watch,” said Christin.
She explained that the tablets have improved both the efficiency and accuracy of data collection, allowing them to gather and capture information in real time.
“Now there is less need for officials at the district office to come down here to collect information, as we feed directly into the system created and linked to our tablets,” she added.
Christin works alongside Dzidzai Mudembera, another CATS who is also supporting children living with HIV. From the 38 children living with HIV under the Mutero Hospital register, the two share responsibilities, with Dzidzai supporting 14 of them.
The tablets are linked to the NAC DHIS-2 software. According to the NAC Information Technology department, a total of 2,306 active Community Adolescent Treatment Supporters were engaged during the first quarter of 2025 under the DHIS-2 program. These peer mentors use tablets to track and support children, adolescents, and young adults living with HIV, playing a critical role in strengthening adherence and improving access to care.
The majority of active CATS fall within the 20 to 24 age group, which accounts for 985 individuals. This is followed by 163 in the 15 to 19 age bracket, and only five are under the age of 15.
With the help of digital tools, including tablets, CATS have been able to extend vital services to thousands of adolescents. A total of 93,583 adolescents received adherence monitoring support, while 81,441 benefited from counselling sessions. Another 42,927 were reached through home visits, and 33,138 received service referrals.
The CATS program, implemented in communities across Zimbabwe by the National AIDS Council, was launched in 2004 under the Zvandiri model. It is now run by young people aged 18 to 24, who are trained and mentored to support their peers throughout the HIV care continuum through support groups, home visits, phone call reminders, and messages. The introduction of tablets has revolutionized the way CATS operate and connect with peers.
In Gutu’s Mutero area, the program selects out-of-school adolescents between the ages of 10 and 22. Candidates must have an undetectable viral load and be willing to disclose their HIV status to caregivers who support children living with HIV. These young people, drawn from the local community, must also be relatively stable and not highly mobile. The CATS work with HIV-positive children from infancy up to 24 years of age. Mutero Hospital currently has 38 children living with HIV, all aged nine and above.
Sister Catharine Mupfumba, the focal nurse for the CATS program at Mutero Hospital, said the tablets have been extremely helpful, despite a few challenges.
“The tablets have made our jobs easier as we now receive constant updates through the system linked to the tablets. However, we do face some issues. Often, the tablets have no data, making it difficult to share the information that would have been captured,” said Sister Mupfumba.
Despite such hurdles, the use of tablets in HIV care is being scaled up beyond Gutu. The initiative is part of a broader national strategy to decentralize HIV services and improve data-driven decision-making at the community level. Through the integration of technology, the National AIDS Council hopes to strengthen case management, streamline reporting, and close the gaps between rural and urban healthcare delivery.
Mr. Pasca Mukuwe, the District AIDS Coordinator for Gutu, noted that the tablets initiative is not limited to Gutu but is part of a national rollout.
“The National AIDS Council has invested in the DHIS-2 software. This system is compatible with the tablets provided to community cadres. Every community worker under NAC or the NATIF Support Program has one. We expect them to enter their case loads, track the number of people they provide services to, and log the number of sessions conducted,” said Mr. Mukuwe.
The DHIS-2 captures client-level data through the DHIS-2 tracker. This tool assigns a Unique Identifier Code (UIC) to each beneficiary, allowing the system to monitor service uptake at both community and facility levels. The system operates on both web and Android platforms, allowing for real-time integration between the field and central health systems.
