MARONDERA,
ZIMBABWE
—
Zimbabwean
health
officials
said
Tuesday
they
aim
to
eliminate
HIV/AIDS
as
a
public
health
threat
by
2030,
crediting
the
United
States
with
making
such
progress
possible
through
aid
and
support.U.S.
Ambassador
to
Zimbabwe
Pamela
Tremont
and
officials
from
PEPFAR
and
the
U.S.
Centers
for
Disease
Control
and
Prevention
toured
the
HIV
services
area
at
Marondera
Hospital,
located
some
70
kilometers
east
of
Harare,
the
Zimbabwe
capital,
where
HIV/AIDS
once
sickened
thousands.
Speaking
to
journalists
afterward,
Dr.
Delight
Madoro,
a
district
medical
officer
in
Mashonaland
East
province,
said
PEPFAR
—
or
the
U.S.
Presidential
Emergency
Plan
for
AIDS
Relief
—
enabled
Zimbabwe
to
combat
the
epidemic
with
strategies
such
as
blood-based
self-testing
and
PrEP,
which
stands
for
pre-exposure
prophylaxis.
“And
after
maybe
you
test
positive,
there
are
staff
and
support
…
at
the
facilities
to
help
link
you
to
other
HIV
services,”
Madoro
said.
“There
is
a
lot
that
is
happening
on
the
ground
in
terms
of
[the]
fight
against
HIV
through
the
support
that
we
are
getting
from
PEPFAR,”
he
continued.
“And
in
terms
of
human
resources,
we’re
getting
more
staff.
This
means
our
clients
are
going
to
have
more
time
with
clinicians,
so
that
we
become
thorough,
and
we
get
thorough
with
our
treatment.
“So,
in
a
nutshell,
I
can
say
the
support
that
we
have
been
getting
from
PEPFAR
is
of
paramount
importance,”
he
said.
Tremont
said
the
U.S.
was
committed
to
help
fight
the
HIV
epidemic
in
Zimbabwe.
“We’ve
made
huge
progress
since
2006,”
she
said.
“The
number
of
deaths
from
HIV
has
fallen
80%,
and
that
is
something
I
think
we
should
all
be
very
proud
of.”
Tremont
mentioned
that
the
U.S.
provided
antiretroviral
treatments
and
many
health
care
workers
at
clinics
and
hospitals
around
Zimbabwe.
“It’s
great
to
see
all
that
in
action
today
and
to
see
the
dedication
and
stubbornness
of
the
health
care
workers
reaching
down
to
those
HIV
patients
who
are
scared
and
reluctant
to
undertake
treatment,”
she
said.
“Thank
you
to
the
health
care
workers.
You
are
our
heroes
in
all
this.”
Haddi
Cham,
the
Centers
for
Disease
Control’s
Zimbabwe
HIV
services
branch
chief,
said
the
PEPFAR
program
made
the
HIV
facility
at
Marondera
Hospital
possible.
“We
have
been
supporting
this
facility
for
many,
many
years
now,
and
we
are
really
grateful
for
the
collaboration
with
all
the
key
stakeholders.
Through
that
strong
collaboration,
we
are
able
to
realize
these
results,”
Cham
said.
Zimbabwe
is
one
of
the
countries
hit
hardest
by
HIV/AIDS,
especially
before
1999,
when
authorities
introduced
an
AIDS
levy
—
a
3%
tax
on
income
and
business
profits
that
is
used
by
the
National
AIDS
Council
for
programs
to
combat
the
spread
of
the
pandemic.
Data
indicate
the
prevalence
of
HIV
among
adults
ages
15
to
49
in
Zimbabwe
declined
from
12.7%
in
2019
to
10.5%
in
2023.