Tag: PEPFAR

High Demand Pushes America to Increase Lenacapavir Supply as Eswatini Gets First Shipment

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa The Kingdom of Eswatini has received its first shipment of the lifesaving HIV prevention drug Lenacapavir, a few months after becoming one of the few  African countries earmarked for the rollout to take delivery. The twice-a-year injectable drug will be introduced under the America First Global Health Strategy, which guides the United States’ global health programming across the continent. Launched in September, the America First Global Health Strategy aims to shift the United States’ global health efforts toward strengthening African health systems and building market-driven partnerships. Under…

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Funding Cuts Push Zimbabwe to Consider Reusable Circumcision Kits

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe is exploring the use of reusable circumcision kits to sustain voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) services amid declining international funding and the gradual withdrawal of donor support. VMMC has been a key HIV prevention tool in Zimbabwe, credited with significantly reducing new HIV infections since the program’s launch in 2009. At its peak in 2012, the program recorded over 1.1 million circumcisions, contributing to the national goal of achieving 80% coverage among adult males and newborns. In the long term, Zimbabwe aimed to maintain around 150,000…

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US Unveils $65 Million Bridge Plan to Sustain Zimbabwe’s HIV Respons

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa The United States Department of State, through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), has unveiled a new HIV and AIDS support fund worth US$65.1 million for Zimbabwe. The initiative, known as The Bridge Plan, will run for the next six months, with renewal contingent on the Government of Zimbabwe meeting new U.S. Government (USG) funding requirements. Under the Bridge Plan, the U.S. government will continue to support critical HIV interventions such as antiretroviral therapy (ART) and HIV commodities procurement. However, the new funding excludes certain…

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UNAIDS Welcomes US Move to Expand HIV Prevention Access

Michael Gwarisa

By Staff Reporter  UNAIDS welcomes the announcement by the US State Department that the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) will be supporting an initiative by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria to provide lenacapavir to up to 2 million people in countries with high burdens of HIV. Lenacapavir, an American-based innovation, is one of the most promising new HIV prevention tools that has emerged in the HIV response, offering protection against HIV with just twice-yearly injections. The breakthrough medicine will save thousands of lives if…

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U.S. Senate Moves to Protect PEPFAR Funding Amid Trump-Era Cuts Threat

Michael Gwarisa

By Health Times Correspondent The International AIDS Society (IAS) has applauded a bipartisan effort in the U.S. Senate to safeguard the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) from a proposed $400 million funding cut that had originated from President Donald Trump’s rescission package. However, advocates caution that the battle is far from over. Both the Senate and House of Representatives must still vote on the final budget package, and last-minute changes could emerge before the statutory deadline. PEPFAR, launched in 2003 by President George W. Bush, is widely…

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South Africa, Zimbabwe and Congo among countries already witnessing disruptions in HIV care, says MSF

Michael Gwarisa

By Staff Reporter  The decision by the US government to temporarily freeze funding to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) alongside all other foreign aid for at least 90 days has had immediate effects on people living with HIV (PLHIV), said Doctors Without Borders (MSF) grams can continue at least until April, we are concerned that critical elements of the PEPFAR program remain frozen. More than three weeks since the US government froze PEPFAR funding, there is still widespread confusion and uncertainty as to whether this critical lifeline…

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New PEPFAR Waiver Scraps Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision Program

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa  The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has removed Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) programs from its list of HIV prevention and care initiatives set to benefit under the Life-Saving HIV Care and Prevention Services limited waiver. The 90-day limited waiver, which permits the continuation of critical HIV care, treatment, and prevention services, comes amid concerns over service disruptions following the temporary suspension of U.S. foreign assistance. However, some programs have been excluded from the waiver, raising uncertainty among health analysts regarding their resumption even…

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Panic Grips Zimbabwe’s HIV Community as Trump Pauses Pepfar Funding

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa  A leaked internal memo obtained by the New York Times has revealed plans by the US State department to temporarily halt nearly all current foreign funding including that of Pepfar, a program that supplies most of the treatment for H.I.V. in Africa and developing countries worldwide. The action stems from President Donald Trump’s executive order on foreign aid, which directs all government divisions with foreign development assistance programs to stop disbursing funds to countries and organizations until they can be reviewed. Pepfar is estimated to have delivered…

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US Ambassador lauds Marondera Provincial Hospital’s fight against HIV

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere in Marondera The US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Pamela Tremont has commended health workers at Marondera Provincial Hospital for their tenacity and resolve to control the HIV epidemic in the province. She said this during her tour of the hospital where she met with the staff as well as some of the beneficiaries of HIV services. The US Government through the Presidential Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Centre for Disease Control has been supporting Zimbabwe’s HIV response since 2006 putting the country on the brink…

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HIV Positive Zimbabwean Mothers Celebrate Life Of Healthy Choices and Healthy Children

Healthtimes

By Takunda Mandura Having been diagnosed with HIV during her first pregnancy 15 years ago, Moud Chinembiri, now a mother of two children, has defied the odds and looked the beast in the eye. Now her child whom she had when she had a positive HIV diagnosis is attending high school and is HIV-negative, a living testimony of the intervention measures against HIV.   Her daughter has been her treatment buddy. “My daughter has become sort of my alarm to remind me of my medication schedule. I can say she…

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