The country has made significant achievements, including reaching the UNAIDS 95-95-95 fast-track targets among the adult population, 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.
Today, that progress is under threat, and warning signs are emerging. Media reports show that from January to June 2025, Zimbabwe recorded 5,932 AIDS-related deaths, up from 5,712 during the same period in 2024.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams in Zimbabwe interviewed volunteers from different organizations who have witnessed first-hand the impact of the funding cuts. Angela Jambo is one of these volunteers. She welcomed us warmly into her home in the town of Chitungwiza, bearing a beaming smile that masked a long, painful journey as she took us back to the year 2000—the year she was diagnosed with HIV.
“Back then, it was a death sentence,” Angela said.
Angela’s story is far from unique.
Hope is crumbling
Antiretroviral treatment (ARVs) was not available in Zimbabwe, and people living with HIV largely relied on "positive living" methods, which entailed embracing a proactive lifestyle focused on traditional nutrition, herbal remedies, mental well-being, and peer support to manage life with HIV. Together, Angela and a few other women marched to the official residence of the president of Zimbabwe, in hopes to share their grievances. However, the security situation prevented them from getting there, so they eventually secured a meeting with the country’s vice president. That meeting became one of the many milestones that led to the introduction of ARVs in Zimbabwe five years later.
Since then, Angela has spent her time advocating for other people living with HIV. With strong donor support, particularly from the US Agency for International Development, or USAID, access to treatment expanded, support groups grew, awareness increased, and hope renewed.
That hope is now crumbling due to President Trump’s sweeping executive order earlier this year, which froze most foreign aid and was followed by an aggressive rescission proposal aimed at cutting billions in global health and development funding. Today, USAID has effectively ceased operations, the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) faces an uncertain future, and the administration has announced the end of US funding for UNAIDS, the United Nations’ flagship program for HIV/AIDS. More donor countries, including the Netherlands and the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, have announced they will reduce their financial support for Africa, a situation that will further strain Zimbabwe’s already overstretched health sector.
Angela felt the blow firsthand. She received a message to stop all activities through a WhatsApp group for volunteers with USAID projects. Immediately, nutritional aid, food hampers, psychological support, and educational materials disappeared. Parents and guardians of children living with HIV were thrown into confusion. Some schools began turning children away. Those preparing for final exams could not register; USAID had been their only hope for school fees including examination registration fees. Her community was left reeling.
Vulnerable people are feeling the impact
Angela’s voice cracked as she recalled an 11-year-old boy born HIV-positive who lived nearby. After learning the truth about his medication, he became violent and blamed his mother for his status. Angela counseled him and introduced him to a support group that changed his life.
That boy, and many like him, weigh heavily on Angela’s heart. “Support groups were everything,” she said.
“Now I see these children walking aimlessly as we are no longer conducting any support group activities. It’s stressful and disturbing. These children had found a family in our groups. Now, all of that is gone,” she added.
In Mbare, Beloved Mhizha*, a sex worker who also worked with the Center for Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Research Zimbabwe (CeSHHAR Zimbabwe)—an organization that specializes in population health research and HIV/AIDS programming—watched helplessly as the network of sex workers he worked with collapsed.
Plan to dismantle PEPFAR must be stopped
Read more“Before the funding cuts, clinics were well-stocked with medication and supplies,” he said. “Now, we are seeing condom stock-outs, something we have not been experiencing lately. Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention is no longer given to new clients. We seem to be going backwards.”
He described how services they once accessed with ease have either become inaccessible or prohibitively expensive.
“We used to get medication for free,” he explained. “Now, we must travel long distances or go to private clinics where we pay for the medication for some drugs. Even the gas used during cryotherapy, a common treatment for genital warts that uses extremely cold temperatures to freeze and destroy the wart tissue, is no longer available. Loops [an intra-uterine device (IUD) that act as contraception] and condoms are in short supply and clinics no longer treat minor ailments like they used to.”
A collapse in community-based and prevention programming
Sithabile Garan’anga, a sex worker who worked as a PrEP champion and a lay counselor trained by Friendship Bench, an organization that provides community based psychosocial support, is also now idle. She used to volunteer at a CeSHHAR-run facility in Mbare providing counseling services to people struggling with depression, suicide, drug use, and abuse, among other challenges.
“It was tough work, but rewarding,” Sithabile said. “Now, I cannot help anyone, even though I know how to.”
Sithabile used to follow up with patients, particularly key populations, a group defined by UNAIDS as those at higher risk of HIV infection and who face social and legal challenges that increase their vulnerability. She ensured the patients stayed on medication and received proper care. Today, without support from clinics or funding, she is not useful to them.
“It hurts to see people suffering while I stand by with my hands tied,” she said.
Natasha Ngwenyeni, a community volunteer with the Zimbabwe Association of Church-Related Hospitals, has also witnessed a painful decline in Glen View, Harare. Her work involved supporting key populations in accessing health care services and pushing for inclusive policies.
“The work we did brought dignity to people who had long been ignored by service providers,” she said. “But with USAID said to be closing for good in September this year, I fear the worst is yet to come. Already, key populations are beginning to shy away from being served at local clinics as they fear being judged by service providers.”
According to MSF country representative Zahra Zeggani-Bec, the funding cuts are already having far-reaching consequences: “We are seeing a total collapse in community-based and prevention programming, especially for key populations who are now entirely left behind.”
“The cuts are not just hitting program activities and medical stocks; they are crippling the logistical backbone of HIV care,” she added. “Transport for distributing supplies has all but vanished. Confusion reigns, with services changing daily or weekly, leaving patients unsure where to go and breaking continuity of care. We are also deeply concerned about looming stock-outs of essential drugs, HIV test kits, and lab equipment, particularly the cartridges needed for the GeneXpert machines that are central to HIV and tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis.”
MSF in Zimbabwe
MSF, under its current Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) and Artisanal Miners projects in Harare and Gwanda, is filling critical service gaps that have widened due to reduced USAID funding. The ASRH project operates in densely populated suburbs of Mbare and Epworth, offering a mix of medicalized and peer-led, adolescent-friendly services aimed at reducing morbidity and mortality related to sexual and reproductive health. Meanwhile, the Gwanda-based Artisanal Miners project is delivering mobile, integrated health services in remote mining communities, targeting the intersecting burdens of HIV, TB, and silicosis. Both projects are grounded in strong community engagement, ensuring services are responsive, inclusive, and context-specific.
*Name has been changed
