Tag: PEPFAR

HIV Positive Zimbabwean Mothers Celebrate Life Of Healthy Choices and Healthy Children

Takunda Mandura

By Takunda Mandura Having been diagnosed with HIV during her first pregnancy 15 years ago, Moud Chinembiri, now a mother of two children, has defied the odds and looked the beast in the eye. Now her child whom she had when she had a positive HIV diagnosis is attending high school and is HIV-negative, a living testimony of the intervention measures against HIV.   Her daughter has been her treatment buddy. “My daughter has become sort of my alarm to remind me of my medication schedule. I can say she…

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#Breaking: Donors About To Pull The Plug On Condom Funding In Zimbabwe

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa One of the major funders for HIV and AIDS programs in Zimbabwe, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), has notified the Zimbabwean government that it will terminate funding for condom programming within the next 30 months, HealthTimes has learnt. Popularly known as Madhimbare mainly because of their blue and white packaging, public sector condoms serve the biggest number of condom users in Zimbabwe especially those at high risk of HIV infection mainly Female Sex Workers (FSW), Artisanal Miners, Truck Drivers among other HIV key…

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The Daring Five: Zim Female Riders Break Glass Ceiling In Male-Dominated Specimen Transportation Industry

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa in Shamva She probably has the most beautiful smile in Shamva, but don’t let that fool you. Rosemary Sibanda is a goal-getter, confident, bold and aiming for greater heights in her career as a rider working under Zimbabwe’s Integrated Specimen Transportation System (IST). Being caregivers, women find it difficult to penetrate male-dominated fields, and in most cases, employers prefer males to females for certain roles. Despite the many years of female activism and women empowerment advocacy, the gender gap in the professional world has not been closed.…

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How Motorbikes Have Bridged Diagnostic and Specimen Collection Gap In Rural Zimbabwe

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa in Gokwe, Nembudziya It’s around 12 midday, and the sun is blazing hot despite it being winter in Zimbabwe. There is not much activity, left for the chatter of a few old men seated around a pot of opaque beer at a nearby homestead. From a distance, a buzzing sound like that of bees or hornets approaches from the southern side of Kuwirirana Clinic, a health facility in Gokwe Nembudiziya. As the whirring gets closer, a Biker on a motorcycle emerges from a thick cloud of dust…

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U.S. Government Delivers First Shipment of Injectable PrEP to Zambia

Michael Gwarisa

LUSAKA – Today, February 9, the United States government delivered to Zambia the first shipment of injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medicine for HIV prevention, making Zambia the second country in the world (after the United States) to offer injectable PrEP outside of a study setting. Injectable PrEP is a safe and effective HIV prevention tool that provides clients with two months of HIV protection between injections. This donation of 14,850 vials of injectable PrEP – called Cabotegravir Long Acting (CAB-LA) – to Zambia’s Ministry of Health will protect 2,000 Zambians…

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CATALYST Study To Inform National Scale-Up Of PrEP Products in Zimbabwe

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Following the approval for the use of three Pre-Exposure Prophylaxes (PrEP) products for HIV prevention by the Zimbabwean government,  the country is conducting a three-year study to evaluate and inform the national HIV response’s rollout of PrEP products. The study named CATALYST, which stands for Catalyzing Access to New Prevention Product to Stop HIV is a multi-country study that will characterise and assess the implementation of an enhanced service delivery package providing informed choice of PrEP products among women at the sites where the study is being…

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CATALYST HIV Research Study Launched In Zimbabwe

Michael Gwarisa

THE Maximizing Options to Advance Informed Choice for HIV Prevention (MOSAIC) consortium, has launched CATALYST, a research study that evaluates delivery of HIV prevention methods in women and girls at greater risk oF new HIV infections. By Michael Gwarisa The three-year, multi-country implementation study builds on decades of research related to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention and is aimed at assessing the delivery of multiple PrEP methods to women in real-world settings in five African countries, including Zimbabwe. The study will deliver choice among three PrEP methods — daily…

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Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Ban To Reverse HIV/AIDS Gains Says PEPFAR

Michael Gwarisa

THE recently appointed leader of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Ambassador Dr. John N. Nkengasong says the recent move by the Ugandan government to pass a bill that makes identifying as LGBT a crime punishable by death, was not only inhuman but jeopardizes HIV efforts. By Michael Gwarisa According to results of the 2020 Uganda Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (UPHIA), the current prevalence of HIV among adults aged 15 to 49 years in Uganda is 5.5 percent. However in Uganda, it is estimated that  there are…

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‘It’s been 20 Years of Saving Zimbabwean Lives’: PEPFAR’s Carey Speaks on 20 years Anniversary

Michael Gwarisa

THE year 2023, January 28 to be precise, marked exactly 20 years since American President George W. Bush announced the creation of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (#PEPFAR) during his State of the Union address.  The new initiative included the goal of providing HIV treatment to two million people living with HIV over five years with a budget of USD$15 billion dollars.  This was the birth of PEPFAR, now the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease. The new initiative included the goal of…

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Condoms “Too Small” For Some Zimbabwean Men says MP

Michael Gwarisa

MUFAKOSE Legislator, Honorable Susan Matsunga has asked government, the National AIDS Council (NAC) and all partners involved in the procurement and distribution of condoms to consider the size of sexual organs for some Zimbabwean men whenever they place orders from manufactures overseas. By Michael Gwarisa She made these remarks during a question and answer session at a High Level Advocacy Meeting to Discuss Bottlenecks Affecting the Condom Market in Zimbabwe that was held in Harare weeks ago. I am an MP in my constituency and I get feedback from the…

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