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Today, Zimbabweans from all walks of life gather at Mzingwane High School in Esigodini, Matabeleland South, to mark World Aids Day. But as we unite to honour the lost and empower the living, a catastrophic disruption, born thousands of miles away, threatens to unravel decades of painstaking progress.
Zimbabwe’s story is one of African triumph in the face of a devastating pandemic. As reported, the nation’s HIV prevalence peaked at a staggering 25 percent in the late 1990s. Today, thanks to the coordinated efforts of the National Aids Council, partners, and communities, over 1,2 million people are on antiretroviral therapy (ART).
Aids-related deaths have plummeted. Mother-to-child transmission has been slashed by over 60 percent since 2005. Initiatives like Community ART Refill Groups have brought care and ownership to the grassroots level. This is not just data; it is a nation being brought back from the brink.
This miracle, however, was not achieved in a vacuum. As scientist Denise Naniche powerfully recounts in an article featured in this issue, the turning point for sub-Saharan Africa came in the early 2000s with the arrival of two game-changers: The Global Fund and Pepfar. These initiatives transformed HIV from a death sentence into a manageable condition for millions. They funded the drugs, the clinics, and the health workers that made Zimbabwe’s success story possible. They were the global community’s answer to a moral crisis, and they worked, saving over 20 million lives worldwide.
Now, as Naniche warns, we are witnessing a “dangerous step backward.” The recent evisceration of Pepfar and cuts to the Global Fund by the US administration are not merely budget lines on a spreadsheet. They are a death sentence for the very programmes that keep people alive. Health workers are being laid off. Clinics are closing.
The modelling is stark: these cuts could lead to three million additional Aids-related deaths and millions of new infections by 2030.
The cruel irony is that we have never been closer to ending Aids. Scientific breakthroughs like long-acting injectable PrEP (lenacapavir) offer the promise of a twice-yearly injection that can almost eliminate the risk of infection. We have the tools. We have the proven, community-centred models, like those celebrated in Esigodini. What we lack is the final, sustained political will.
To withdraw funding now is akin to building a house from the ground up, brick by brick, sacrifice by sacrifice, only to walk away, abandoning the structure, just as you are about to paint the front door. All the investment, all the hope, all the lives saved, are put at catastrophic risk.
The commemoration in Matabeleland South is a powerful symbol of local commitment.
The candlelight memorials, the wellness marathon, the community art — these are the actions of a people refusing to be defined by their challenges. But local commitment cannot fill a void left by global abdication.
The theme “Overcoming Disruptions, Transforming Aids Response” must now become a global rallying cry. We call upon governments, international partners, and the pharmaceutical industry to look at Zimbabwe and see not a problem to be managed, but a partner to be supported. We must recommit to the funding, the science, and the solidarity that brought us this far.
Ending Aids by 2030 is still possible. But it will only remain so if the world chooses to finish what it started.
Online Reporter