By Kuda Pembere, recently in Chinhoyi
With concerns mounting over potential shortages of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) following the United States Government’s funding cuts, Health and Child Care Minister Douglas Mombeshora has reassured Zimbabweans that there will be no disruptions in supply. He confirmed that the government has already procured ARVs worth US$12 million, expected to arrive by the end of June.
Speaking at a National AIDS Council (NAC) journalists’ workshop in Chinhoyi on Friday, Minister Mombeshora emphasized that the current stock would last until June, with additional procurement ensuring availability through September.
I could break it down and tell you how many units of this or that drug we’re bringing in—first-line, second-line—but what matters is that we have invested US$12 million to import more ARVs,” he said. “The current stock will last us until the end of June.”
To prevent gaps in supply, he explained that ARV purchases are made in batches due to the structure of the NAC budget.
“When we say the National AIDS Council has a US$70 million budget for the year, that money doesn’t come all at once in January. It’s collected monthly. That’s why we purchase in phases, to ensure continuity,” he said.
Minister Mombeshora stressed that the government, not donors, is financing the ARV procurement.
“When I say we are procuring ARVs with US$12 million, I mean we—not donors. The donors have pulled out, and we’ve stepped in to cover that gap,” he stated.
He added that the budget could increase if more patients require treatment and reaffirmed the government’s move away from donor dependency.
“This is our own money. We are not depending on donors anymore. As the president has said, ‘Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo’—a country is built by its own people. Anyone who contributes a dollar or two, that’s a bonus. But we must ensure we have a self-sufficient budget to meet our needs.”
The Ministry of Finance, he noted, has pledged additional support, with supplementary budget allocations expected mid-year.
“But that funding has to go through Parliament, and we anticipate additional resources will be allocated to our ministry to cover not just medicine shortages but other gaps as well,” he said.
Minister Mombeshora also addressed the impact of the U.S. government’s “stop work” order during the Trump administration, which affected Zimbabwe’s health workers. To mitigate disruptions, the government redeployed personnel to maintain uninterrupted HIV services across the country.
“We took immediate action to maintain operations. That meant redeploying personnel to ensure no facility was left without a medical specialist. Those accessing HIV or TB treatment have continued to receive care from their usual facilities,” he said.
“There was some disruption during the first week after the order was issued, but many clinical staff have since returned to work. We don’t yet know what will happen after the 90-day period, but we’ve brought them back on board to avoid further disruption.”
He reiterated that the government is planning independently, without relying on donor expectations.
“We are planning as the Government of Zimbabwe. We are using our own funds, our own resources, and our own personnel to ensure service continuity.”
While the funding cuts have impacted HIV, TB, and malaria programs, Minister Mombeshora clarified that donors were covering only 36% of these programs—not the previously mentioned 55%.
“These are the three programs most affected by the funding cuts. But according to our calculations, donors were covering only 36%, not 55%. That means we need to fill just that 36% gap,” he said.
“After reassessing and reprioritizing our 2024 health needs, we’ve made it a top priority to maintain ARV availability. If people stop taking their HIV medication—as we saw from presentations here—the consequences will be dire, and lives will be lost. We cannot let that happen.”
