Zimbabwe to Prioritise Local Funding in New HIV Strategy
By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe is set to begin developing its fifth Zimbabwe National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan (ZNASP V), which will guide the country’s HIV response from 2026 to 2030. The forthcoming strategy follows the successful implementation of ZNASP IV, which runs until 2025 and has seen major progress in the fight against HIV. Under
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Funding Cuts Push Zimbabwe to Consider Reusable Circumcision Kits
By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe is exploring the use of reusable circumcision kits to sustain voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) services amid declining international funding and the gradual withdrawal of donor support. VMMC has been a key HIV prevention tool in Zimbabwe, credited with significantly reducing new HIV infections since the program’s launch in 2009. At its peak
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US Unveils $65 Million Bridge Plan to Sustain Zimbabwe’s HIV Respons
By Michael Gwarisa The United States Department of State, through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), has unveiled a new HIV and AIDS support fund worth US$65.1 million for Zimbabwe. The initiative, known as The Bridge Plan, will run for the next six months, with renewal contingent on the Government of Zimbabwe meeting
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Suspended HIV Services Resume in Masvingo as CAB-LA, Vaginal Ring Return for Key Populations
By Michael Gwarisa, recently in Masvingo For the past 12 months, Wellington*, a 41-year-old Masvingo man who has sex with men (MSM) and a male sex worker, has relied on oral Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce his risk of HIV infection. He has also used condoms and occasionally Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP). At the start of 2025,
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HIV vaccines tested in PrEPVacc fail to reduce infections
The results of the PrEPVacc HIV vaccine trial conducted in Eastern and Southern Africa, which ran between 2020 and 2024, show conclusively that neither of the two experimental vaccine regimens tested reduced HIV infections among the study population. Vaccinations in the PrEPVacc trial were stopped in November 2023 (and publicly announced in December 2023) when it
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After Dropping Out Of School Due to An Early Marriage, Mhondoro Adolescent Girl Traces Footsteps Back To Classroom
By Michael Gwarisa in Chegutu When COVID-19 hit in 2020, everything came to a standstill as governments worldwide clamped down on services to pave way for the effective management of the disease. Unfortunately, the education sector was also affected, and learning was suspended. This, however, increased the vulnerability of girls from poor backgrounds as many were driven into
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Zim among African countries to roll out Dapivirine Ring
By Staff Reporter Having sold over 113 000 dapivirine rings under the ‘DapiRing’ brand as of September this year, Zimbabwe having approved it, is among the African countries set to roll the product out. The dapivirine vaginal ring, an alternative HIV prevention method for women will be rolled out to fill this yawning gap where adolescent girls
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ZIMPHIA 2020 Could Leapfrog Zim Towards Ending AIDS By 2030
FOR the first time, Gogo Mhlanga (75) of Filabusi in Matebeleland South is seeing the Zimbabwe Population Based HIV Impact Assessment (ZIMPHIA 2020) survey banner. She wonders what it is all about and why it has been erected close to her homestead. By Michael Gwarisa A few minutes later, the ZIMPHIA 2020 Southern Region Survey Coordinator, Mrs
Read MoreZADHR Trashes Prophet Magaya’s HIV Cure Claims
By Kudakwashe Pembere The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights has rubbished Sunday’s claims by Prophet Walter Magaya that he found the cure for the menacing HIV/AIDS. Several health related civil groups alongside the general public have met these claims with mixed reactions. “Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights takes with great exception
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770K People Died of AIDS Globally in 2018
By Michael Gwairsa A total of 770 000 people died of AIDS in 2019 according to latest statistics released in the UNAIDS Global Aids Update today in Eshowe South Africa. Responding to the statistics, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders said the annual number of deaths due to AIDS has declined only minimally since 2014 and such a catastrophe
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