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.