Zambia Finally Signs US$1.5bn US Health Funding Deal After Months of Disputes
By Michael Gwarisa Zambia has finally agreed to sign a US$1.5 billion health funding deal with the United States after months of negotiations over controversial provisions on health data, biological specimens and the conditions attached to American assistance. The five-year agreement, which is expected to be signed on Thursday, will see the United States provide
Read More
Gavi’s Next-Generation TB Vaccines Could Extend Protection Beyond BCG to Adolescents and Adults
By Michael Gwarisa For more than a century, the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine has been the world’s main vaccine against tuberculosis, protecting millions of children from severe forms of the disease. But the vaccine’s limitations have become increasingly difficult to ignore. While BCG remains an important tool for protecting infants and young children, it has
Read More
Beyond the Lancet Report, There Are People Like Martha Growing Old With HIV
By Michael Gwarisa For 22 years, Martha Tholanah has lived with HIV. When she was diagnosed on January 3, 2003, the future looked bleak. She had fallen ill and gone for an HIV test shortly before starting a new job. Her CD4 count was just 31, indicating severe immune suppression at a time when an
Read More
US Embassy Challenges Zimbabwe’s Account of Rejected Health Assistance Deal
By Michael Gwarisa The United States Embassy has challenged the Zimbabwean government’s account of why it rejected a proposed multi-million-dollar health assistance agreement, marking the latest development in an ongoing dispute over a deal that would have supported HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and other public health programmes. The Embassy’s response follows remarks made in Parliament last
Read More
Will African Countries That Rejected Trump’s Health Deals Be Forced Back to the Negotiating Table?
By Michael Gwarisa African countries that rejected the United States’ proposed “America First” health agreements did so in defence of sovereignty, arguing that some of the conditions attached to the deals were unacceptable. However, as PEPFAR funding transitions continue and concerns grow over the sustainability of HIV programmes, governments may soon face difficult choices between
Read More
600,000 People Set to Receive Twice-Yearly HIV Prevention Injection by End of 2026 as Global Access Drive Accelerates
By Michael Gwarisa in RIO DE JANEIRO An estimated 600,000 people are expected to be receiving the groundbreaking twice-yearly HIV prevention injection lenacapavir by the end of 2026, with the number projected to surpass one million early next year, as global efforts to rapidly expand access to long-acting HIV prevention gather pace. The milestone was
Read More
Undetectable Isn’t the Whole Story: Study Finds Signs of HIV Immune Activity in the Brain
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 story. New research unveiled during
Read More
Zimbabwe Advances Community Pharmacy Model to Expand Access to PrEP, Including Lenacapavir
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 the initiative at the 26th
Read More
Zimbabwe Faces Funding Cliff as U.S. Ends Support for HIV, TB and Malaria Programmes
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 Health Sector Working Group meeting
Read More
Zimbabwe Drops National Health Insurance Name, Unveils Tax-Funded Healthcare Provision Programme
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 responding to questions during the
Read More