HARARE, Apr.15,2026 (NewsDay Live)- Shamva district and other parts of Mashonaland Central province have seen a sharp decline in HIV prevalence among youths following the introduction of new community initiatives targeting gold panners, young mothers and tobacco farmers, NewsDay has heard.
Chief Bushu, born Gracious Mukanwa, announced the development during a recent media tour of the district.
Mukanwa said the huge presence of gold panners and tobacco farmers had brought with it a number of challenges including child marriages, infidelity and excessive dependency on adult males for child-headed families, leading to a spike in HIV cases.
“We agreed to have working rules for the community. We have commitments including the 'Not in My Village' campaign that aims at reducing child marriages and abuse of the girl child.
“There are survivors, whom we took to teach children in the community. We also roped in the school headmasters to spearhead initiatives that help in reducing HIV,” he said.
Shamva district AIDS coordinator Shepherd Zanamwe said HIV prevalence had declined from 8.43% in 2023 to about 6.4% in 2025.
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He attributed the development to prevention strategies including the Young Mentor Mothers programme.
“We are really focusing on young mothers, so we have trained 21 young mentor mothers around the district. The programme uses combination prevention strategies. We discuss issues related to pre-exposure prophylaxis.
“We also talk about issues to do with condoms, condom distribution. We also have other programs, like they have been trained in issues to do with mental health, family planning.
“We have also trained them on STIs (sexually transmitted infections).” We also need to prevent STIs, as you know, STIs are more of a highway to HIV infection.”
Zanamwe said they had also trained health workers through the support of UNICEF under the same program.
“We have trained 19 health workers, because the young mentor mothers are coming from 19 facilities,” he said.
The UNICEF-supported initiative is transforming HIV prevention outcomes for adolescent girls and young women in Mashonaland Central, demonstrating how peer-led, community-based approaches can drive measurable impact at scale.
Implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Child Care , Zvandiri, and the National AIDS Council, the programme leverages the Young Mentor Mother model—an innovative, evidence-based approach that equips young mothers to serve as frontline peer supporters for other adolescents navigating pregnancy, motherhood, and HIV risk.
The model is also contributing to improved maternal and child health outcomes, including progress toward eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV.