Zimbabwe’s HIV gains face a test among young people

Harare, Zimbabwe – When Shaun Moyo started nursing at Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare in the late 1990s, the effects of the HIV epidemic were visible in the hospital wards and beyond them. Patients filled the wards, she recalls, while funerals had become a familiar part of everyday life. Nearly three decades later, the picture has changed.

Antiretroviral treatment has transformed the lives of people living with HIV. Condoms, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and other prevention options also give young people more ways to protect themselves. But Moyo, now a 48-year-old nurse working locum shifts at two major public hospitals in Harare, worries that some young people may not fully appreciate the risks.

Her concern reflects a wider challenge for Zimbabwe: how to protect hard-won progress against HIV while ensuring that young people understand, can access and are willing to use the prevention tools available to them. Dr Misheck Ruwende, a Zimbabwean family physician and advocate for reducing HIV stigma, shares that concern.