Story by Kenias Chivuzhe
Zimbabwe has made significant progress in its quest to end HIV/AIDS by 2030 with emphasis now on the need for a continued collective approach in order to build upon the success stories and guard against reversing the gains made so far.
The country continues to record significant progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS with calls being made to consolidate the gains achieved so far.
The World AIDS Day Commemorations held at John Cowie Primary School in Rusape saw people sharing their experiences and success stories with the local traditional leadership acknowledging the reduction of infections and deaths due to the pandemic.
An HIV positive attendant said, “I felt sick and went to a lot of prophets but my condition did not improve until I realised that I am HIV positive. I am happy that we are receiving treatment for free.”
Another added, “I thought being HIV positive was a death sentence and I could not have an HIV free child. Due to HIV interventions, I gave birth to an HIV free baby.”
“This programme helps us to remember the people who died due to HIV. Many families lost their relatives and this has now improved We need to continue to fight the pandemic that has robbed the country of many people,” noted chief Makoni.
The National AIDS Council (NAC) warned people against complacency highlighting the need to remain focused to achieve the set target of an AIDS free society.
“Even though our response to HIV has recorded tremendous progress and achieved the 95-95-95 targets, we continue to record new infections and people dying of AIDS. Over 15,000 new HIV infections and over 17,000 AIDS deaths were recorded in 2023, serving as a stark reminder that the epidemic remains vicious. We therefore have to continue to provide leadership, harmonise and align the response in line with local and global standards and expectations to achieve and maintain epidemic control,” NAC’s chief executive officer, Dr Bernard Madzima said.
Development and health partners also acknowledged Zimbabwe’s HIV success story as a result of both domestic and international funding.
UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mr Edward Kallon said, “Zimbabwe has shown remarkable progress in its fight against HIV, achieving significant reductions in new infections and expanding access to life-saving antiretroviral therapies (ART) with 95% of individuals living with HIV receiving treatment in 2023.
“The tangible support offered through Zimbabwe’s AIDS levy and international partnerships with entities like the Global Fund and PEPFAR forms the backbone of a robust response framework. However, achieving our goal to end AIDS by 2030 hinges on unwavering commitment to human rights and unfettered access to quality services.”
Manicaland province is among the pacesetters in fighting the pandemic.
“This event is a reminder that the battle against HIV is not over.We are however happy that the province has achieved the triple 95 HIV targets. The province is among the least affected in terms of HIV prevalence in the country,” said Manicaland Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Advocate Misheck Mugadza.
The minister of Health and Child Care Dr Douglas Mombeshora who was Guest of Honour at the commemorations re-assured the nation on the resolve by government to explore alternative funding models towards further scaling up intervention measures that are already yielding desired results.
He said, “Our response has recorded a significant milestone. Our new infections have been on the downwards trajectory. This is positive, but we are still to achieve our target. We have also scaled HIV testing. Of the 15 000 new infections recorded in 2023, over 9000 were women. The ministry has intensified the mother to child HIV prevention interventions.
“Financing the health sector remains a major challenge. We continue to explore alternative funding such as the national health insurance and public private partnerships among other resource mobilisation strategies.”
Meanwhile, a marathon event aimed at raising awareness on the pandemic was the first event of the day with winners receiving medals.
A candle lighting event was also held Saturday evening in memory of all who died as a result of the pandemic.
