Online Reporter
Trust Freddy
Zimpapers Correspondent
THE National AIDS Council collected over US$60 million through Aids Levy last year, but says the amount falls far short of what is needed to sustain the nation’s HIV response amid shrinking international support.
With external funding declining since early 2025, NAC is now targeting at least US$200 million annually in domestic resource mobilisation to plug widening financial gaps and safeguard critical HIV programmes.
Speaking at a validation meeting for the Zimbabwe National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan (ZNASP) 2026–2030 in Harare on Tuesday, NAC chief executive officer Dr Bernard Madzima said sudden donor funding cuts had dealt a severe blow to the country’s HIV response.
“Since the beginning of 2025, the HIV programme in particular, and other health programmes in general, have suffered severe knockbacks because of these sudden funding cuts,” he said.
Dr Madzima noted that Zimbabwe had already achieved the 95-95-95 HIV targets — meaning 95 percent of people living with HIV know their status, 95 percent of those diagnosed are on treatment, and 95 percent of those on treatment have achieved viral suppression — but warned that sustaining these gains now depends on strengthening domestic financing.
He said the proposed US$200 million annual injection would help create a self-sustaining supply chain for life-saving commodities.
“One of the areas we are looking at is resource mobilisation at a domestic level,” he said.
“We are looking at mobilising not less than US$200 million per year to ensure that we have adequate supplies of ARVs, laboratory commodities, condoms, and sexual and reproductive health commodities. There is a funding gap that has been created, and we must address it.”
Currently, the AIDS Levy — a 3 percent tax on taxable income administered through the National AIDS Trust Fund — remains the backbone of domestic HIV financing.
“In 2025, the AIDS Levy amounted to around US$60 million,” said Dr Madzima.
“It cannot fill a gap of US$200 million. That leaves a shortfall of about US$140 million, especially if traditional donor funding does not return.”
Collections are projected to rise to US$75 million as economic formalisation improves, but this would still cover less than a third of the required annual budget.
To bridge the gap, NAC is exploring additional domestic funding mechanisms in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
These include proposals for a National AIDS Insurance scheme and enhanced utilisation of health-related taxes.
“We are looking at, together with Ministry of Health and Child Care, the issues of a National AIDS Insurance.
“We are also looking at the issues of the sin taxes, the health levy, which has been collected as taxes for various commodities like sugar, alcohol, cigarettes.”
Dr Madzima added that engagement with parliamentarians is underway to push for expanded fiscal space for health financing.
“We are also mobilising parliamentarians to make sure that health in general also accesses other forms of taxes. If we are going to fund health, whether it’s National AIDS Insurance or whether it’s also increasing the AIDS levy. So, the main issue is to look at local resources, domestic resources. That’s the strategy which we are going to employ.”
He said strengthening internal funding mechanisms is now critical to ensuring uninterrupted access to treatment and prevention services in the face of uncertain global support.
