University students remain at the centre of Zimbabwe’s HIV/Aids challenge — and national response is still falling short.
In Harare alone, HIV prevalence among young people stands at 8,4%, with 2 644 new infections recorded annually, half of them among the youth.
These figures demand urgent and decisive action, not incremental adjustments.
Government and university authorities must take clear leadership in reshaping sexual health education and prevention.
The current approach — largely built around awareness campaigns — has not translated to sustained behaviour change. Young people may know the risks, but knowledge alone has not been enough to alter behaviour.
The university environment itself amplifies vulnerability. For many students, campus life represents their first taste of independence. This new freedom is often accompanied by peer pressure, substance use and financial strain.
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These factors can drive risky behaviours such as engaging in unprotected sex, having multiple partners and transactional relationships — conducts that continue to fuel the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
What is required now is a shift from passive awareness to active engagement.
Sexual health education must be practical, continuous and grounded in the realities students face. It must extend beyond lecture halls to student residences, social spaces and digital platforms where attitudes and behaviour are shaped.
Government must provide clear policy direction backed by adequate resources. This includes expanding youth-friendly health services, ensuring consistent access to condoms, HIV testing and treatment, and scaling up prevention options such as PrEP, PEP and long-acting injectables like Cabotegravir.
At the same time, structural drivers of vulnerability — poverty, gender inequality and limited economic opportunities — must be addressed to reduce reliance on risky survival strategies.
Universities, for their part, must embed student health into their core mandate.
Campus clinics should offer integrated services including HIV testing, STI treatment, counselling and reproductive healthcare in environments free from stigma and unnecessary barriers. Peer-led programmes should also be prioritised, as students are more likely to conform to trusted voices within their networks.
Substance abuse cannot be ignored. Alcohol and drug use continue to impair judgement and increase unsafe sexual behaviour. Universities must invest in targeted counselling, prevention and rehabilitation services that reflect the realities students face.
Gender inequality remains another critical fault line. Many young women lack the power to negotiate safe sex, particularly in economically dependent or transactional relationships. At the same time, young men remain under-engaged in sexual health programmes.
This imbalance must be corrected through initiatives that promote shared responsibility, expand access to contraception and confront sexual violence decisively.
Equally troubling is low risk perception. Many students focus primarily on avoiding pregnancy while underestimating the threat of HIV. Changing this mindset requires normalising regular HIV testing, open communication between partners and consistent condom use.
Digital tools present an opportunity to scale up impact. Social media and telehealth platforms can deliver confidential, real-time support, making services more accessible to a generation that increasingly lives online. However, these technologies must complement — not replace — on-the-ground interventions.
This is not merely a public health concern; it is a national imperative.
A generation weakened by preventable infections threatens Zimbabwe’s social and economic future.
The path forward is clear. Government must lead with policy and resources. Universities must implement structured, student-centred programmes. And young people must be empowered to take responsibility for their health.
The cost of inaction is far too high — and the time to act is now.