MAZOWE, Zimbabwe – Zimbabwe faces a renewed HIV prevention challenge among adolescent girls and young women, prompting senior Government officials and the National AIDS Council to demand stronger intervention before hard-won national gains begin reversing.
Dr Shingirayi Mushamba, Secretary for Harare Metropolitan Provincial Affairs and Devolution, raised concern over increasing infections among adolescents and young women during a National AIDS Council sensitisation meeting in Mazowe. Provincial heads from several Government ministries attended the meeting, reflecting growing recognition of HIV as a social, economic and development problem rather than a health ministry issue alone.
Zimbabwe has recorded major progress against HIV over several decades. National AIDS Council data estimates about 1.3 million people now live with HIV. Adult prevalence stands near 9.78 percent, while annual new infections number around 15,000. Treatment performance remains strong, with NAC reporting 97 percent of people living with HIV know their status, 98 percent of diagnosed people receive treatment and 96 percent of treated patients achieve viral suppression.
Those national achievements risk hiding unequal infection patterns among younger populations.
A recent Zimbabwe study involving thousands of adolescents and young adults estimated HIV prevalence at 3.12 percent among adolescent girls and young women aged 15 to 24, compared with 2.76 percent among adolescent boys and young men within the study population. Researchers also recorded poverty, transactional sex, older sexual partners and uneven access to prevention among factors shaping vulnerability.
The wider regional picture carries an even stronger warning. UNAIDS reported adolescent girls and young women aged 15 to 24 accounted for around 160,000 new HIV acquisitions in sub-Saharan Africa during 2025, equal to roughly 3,000 infections every week. Incidence among young women in the region stands three to four times higher than among male peers.
Those figures should force Zimbabwe to examine why young women remain exposed while effective prevention tools already exist.
Poverty plays a major role. A girl without school fees, transport money, food or secure accommodation faces greater vulnerability to transactional relationships. Economic dependence reduces negotiating power over condom use and exposes young women to older partners with higher HIV prevalence.
Child marriage, early pregnancy and gender-based violence add further risks. National AIDS Council programmes identify limited educational opportunities, intergenerational relationships, child marriage, violence and early pregnancy among major drivers affecting adolescent girls and young women.
Zimbabwe therefore needs prevention outside clinics.
Keeping girls in school becomes HIV prevention. Protecting girls from violence becomes HIV prevention. Prosecuting adults involved in sexual exploitation becomes HIV prevention. Providing livelihoods, social protection and reproductive health services becomes HIV prevention.
Government ministries represented at the Mazowe meeting should leave with measurable responsibilities.
Education authorities need stronger age-appropriate sexuality education and functioning referral systems between schools and health facilities. Social development officials need support programmes for vulnerable households. Police need firm action against sexual exploitation and gender-based violence. Local authorities need youth-friendly clinics operating at hours suitable for students and young workers.
Parents also need accurate information.
Silence around sex does not protect adolescents. Silence sends young people toward peers, pornography, rumours and social media for guidance. Families need honest conversations covering consent, HIV testing, condoms, pregnancy prevention and respectful relationships.
Zimbabwe already operates targeted programmes including Sista2Sista, DREAMS, Brother2Brother and Community Adolescent Treatment Supporters. NAC says DREAMS focuses on girls and young women aged 10 to 24 facing higher HIV risk, while Sista2Sista links young women with sexual and reproductive health support.
The challenge now involves reach, consistency and funding.
Zimbabwe’s HIV response suffered disruption after major foreign assistance cuts. UNAIDS reported interruptions affecting health workers, laboratory monitoring, condom logistics and several prevention services after changes to American funding during 2025. Global development assistance later fell by 23 percent, placing community prevention programmes under severe pressure.
UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima described the funding shock in severe terms.
“This is the most serious disruption in the HIV response since the world came together to fight this disease,” she said.
Zimbabwe therefore faces two linked problems. Young women require more prevention at the same moment external financing grows less dependable.
Domestic financing must carry more weight.
Zimbabwe’s AIDS Levy offers an established national mechanism, though Government needs stronger funding for youth outreach, condoms, testing, PrEP, community workers and treatment support. Provincial authorities should publish infection trends and programme coverage so communities see where prevention money goes.
New medical tools provide an important opportunity.
Zimbabwe became one of the early African countries to introduce long-acting lenacapavir for HIV prevention. The injection requires dosing only twice each year and targets groups facing elevated infection risk, including adolescent girls and young women. An initial rollout aims to reach about 46,000 people. Clinical trials recorded extremely high protection against HIV acquisition.
Long-acting prevention addresses a practical problem. Daily tablets create adherence difficulties and sometimes expose users to stigma from partners, relatives or neighbours. Two injections each year offer greater privacy and continuity.
Medical innovation still needs social protection.
A young woman experiencing coercion, abuse, hunger or economic dependence needs more than medicine. Effective prevention requires control over sexual decisions, protection from violence, education and income opportunities.
The Mazowe meeting should therefore mark the start of stronger provincial action rather than another sensitisation exercise ending with speeches.
Officials should identify infection hotspots, age groups, service gaps and social drivers district by district. Government should measure how many girls receive PrEP, condoms, HIV testing, post-violence care and comprehensive sexuality education. Programmes should follow young people beyond clinic doors into schools, colleges, informal settlements, mining communities and workplaces.
Zimbabwe has already shown Africa how sustained treatment, community mobilisation and domestic financing reduce HIV deaths and infections.
The remaining challenge sits among populations still left behind.
A rising infection pattern among adolescent girls and young women threatens future progress because every new infection creates decades of treatment needs and carries consequences for families, pregnancies and national health spending.
Dr Mushamba’s warning deserves urgency.
Zimbabwe has medicines, experience, community networks and prevention programmes. Government now needs coordination strong enough to reach every vulnerable young woman before exposure becomes infection.
