By Simbarashe Muparaganda
Bulawayo– Communities have been implored not to abandon condoms in favour of emerging HIV prevention technologies, with health experts stressing that they remain one of the most effective, affordable and accessible tools for preventing new infections.
The advice was made by Ministry of Health and Child Care National HIV Prevention Coordinator Getrude Ncube on Tuesday during the Ministry’s Lenacapavir and HIV Prevention media training facilitated by OPHID and Health Communicators Forum(HCF) and bankrolled by United States government.
The workshop sought to equip journalists with knowledge to accurately translate complex clinical information on Lenacapavir and other pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) options, while strengthening accountability journalism, investigative reporting and public understanding of HIV prevention.
Lenacapavir is a long-acting antiretroviral drug used for both HIV treatment and prevention. It belongs to a class of medicines known as capsid inhibitors, which work by disrupting multiple stages of the HIV life cycle.
Zimbabwe has begun administering the drug, becoming one of the first countries globally to roll out the intervention as part of efforts to further curb new HIV infections.
The programme, funded by the U.S. and the Global Fund, would initially target more than 46 000 people at high risk of contracting HIV across 24 sites nationwide.
Ncube said the emergence of long-acting HIV prevention drugs such as Lenacapavir should complement, rather than replace, condom use.
“Let’s not throw away condoms because now we have Lenacapavir. Condoms were our number one prevention method before many of these new technologies came. They are still highly effective, cost-effective and readily available,” she said.
Ncube said concerns remained over the low uptake of female condoms, despite the country expanding access to a broad range of HIV prevention options aimed at empowering women to protect themselves from HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
“Female condoms remain an underutilised prevention tool even as the country expands access to a range of HIV prevention interventions.
“We have got condoms, both the male and the female condoms, but we have had challenges with the female condom where we are seeing most of the time it is actually not being used.
“We need to understand whether it is because we are not creating enough awareness around it and look at how we can improve uptake,” she said.
Ncube’s remarks come as the country celebrates significant progress in controlling the HIV epidemic, having achieved epidemic control status after recording fewer new HIV infections than AIDS-related deaths.
“Between 2010 and 2024, Zimbabwe achieved a 78 percent reduction in new HIV infections among adults. We are one of the countries in the region that has managed to reduce new infections by more than 70 percent,” she said.
Zimbabwe has an estimated 1,3 million people living with HIV and remains committed to ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 through a combination of treatment, prevention and community-driven interventions.
