Online Reporter
Patrick Chitumba [email protected]
MIDLANDS Province is intensifying efforts to sustain gains made in the fight against HIV by placing greater emphasis on prevention, expanding HIV testing services and tackling teenage pregnancies and stigma.
Having recorded significant progress in reducing new HIV infections and increasing access to treatment, the province is now focusing on taking prevention programmes deeper into communities, particularly in identified hotspots, to safeguard the achievements made over the years.
Key priorities include increasing access to HIV testing services, strengthening awareness campaigns and addressing stigma, which remains a barrier to prevention, treatment and care.
National statistics presented by the United Nations in December 2025 show that Zimbabwe has made substantial progress in its HIV response. New HIV infections declined by 80 percent, from 76 000 in 2010 to 15 000 in 2025, while antiretroviral treatment coverage continued to improve.
National Aids Council (NAC) Midlands manager Mr Mambewu Shumba said community-based interventions had been instrumental in reducing HIV infections across the province.
He said HIV incidence in Midlands had fallen significantly, dropping from about 1,5 percent at the start of the national HIV response to just 0,15 percent.
“The decline mirrors Zimbabwe’s broader progress in the fight against HIV. The incidence is now at 0.15 from where we started, about 1,5. It has been reduced, equally like the prevalence,” he said.
Mr Shumba said community outreach programmes continue to play a critical role in ensuring HIV prevention information reaches vulnerable groups, particularly adolescent girls and young women.
“We have community programmes, including the Sister-to-Sister programme for adolescent girls and young women, where we give information on HIV prevention and sexually transmitted diseases, right in the communities and villages,” he said.
Despite the encouraging progress, Mr Shumba cautioned against complacency, saying there was still a need to strengthen prevention efforts and sustain momentum in the HIV response.
Midlands Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Owen Ncube said the province recorded an HIV prevalence rate of 7,1 percent across all age groups in 2024, slightly below the national prevalence rate of 7,2 percent.
“I commend the National AIDS Council for organising this annual meeting to discuss and resolve pertinent issues around HIV and AIDS, teenage pregnancies, and drug and substance abuse. I encourage districts such as Shurugwi, Zvishavane, Kwekwe and Mberengwa to intensify interventions towards community mobilisation on the elimination of teenage pregnancies, HIV and AIDS testing and stigma reduction,” he said.
Minister Ncube said the next phase of the province’s HIV response would focus on consolidating gains while addressing remaining gaps in prevention, testing and treatment services.
He urged districts with large populations and identified vulnerabilities to strengthen community mobilisation and scale up prevention initiatives.
“The decline in HIV infections should not create complacency, with the province now focusing on protecting the gains made while taking prevention programmes deeper into communities and identified hotspots,” said Minister Ncube.
