AHF calls on Africa to reduce reliance on donor-funded healthcare

AIDS Healthcare Foundation has called on African governments to take greater responsibility for financing their healthcare systems, warning that continued dependence on external funding could threaten progress in the fight against HIV.

AHF Executive Vice President Dr Penninah Iutung said African countries needed to prioritise domestic investment, strengthen local pharmaceutical manufacturing and expand regional cooperation to protect health programmes as the global development financing landscape changes.

Speaking during AHF Zimbabwe's 10th anniversary celebrations, Iutung said countries needed to rethink how healthcare was funded and delivered, particularly as traditional sources of development assistance came under pressure.

“Donor reliance is no longer an option. The global health landscape is shifting rapidly. Countries are battling crippling sovereign debt which has constrained investment in health and social services,” she said.

She said the continent needed to move towards health sovereignty, where governments have the resources, leadership and capacity to protect the health of their populations.

“Health sovereignty means ensuring that our countries have the capacity, the leadership, and the resources to protect the health of their people,” Iutung said.

She called for increased domestic investment in health, pooled procurement mechanisms to enable countries to obtain essential medicines at lower costs, and investment in local pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Iutung also called for stronger health systems, investment in healthcare workers and laboratory services, and greater cooperation between African countries to make health programmes more sustainable.

AHF Zimbabwe Country Programme Director Dr Ernest Chikwati said the organisation's decade-long partnership with Government, civil society and community-based organisations had extended beyond clinical services to address broader barriers to HIV prevention and treatment.

He said its interventions included condom promotion, community mobilisation, advocacy, health education and efforts to reach underserved populations.

“Persistent stigma, discrimination, inequality in access to healthcare, sustainability of health financing, and the need to reach underserved populations remain important challenges,” Chikwati said.

He said stronger partnerships and community ownership would be important in the next phase of the HIV response.

“Our next chapter must be defined by stronger partnerships, greater community ownership, sustainable health systems, renewed advocacy for equitable access to healthcare,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Owen Mugurungi said the partnership had also helped improve the quality of HIV care through the establishment of centres of excellence at Parirenyatwa and Mpilo hospitals.

He said the centres, established in 2017, had grown from seeing about 40,000 clients in their first year to more than 200,000 in 2026.

Mugurungi said the focus was no longer only on expanding access to antiretroviral treatment but also on ensuring that patients received quality care, survived longer and were protected from other health complications.

“Beyond the drugs, we need to make sure that people have better care, and people survive, and people are prevented,” he said.

He said the centres had also become training points for healthcare workers, managers, student nurses and doctors, adding that the next step was to extend similar training and support to private-sector doctors.

Mugurungi also raised concern over the number of patients presenting with advanced HIV disease during their initial assessments, saying early identification and management were important to reducing unnecessary deaths.

He said AHF had also supported testing for other infections and chronic cardiovascular conditions among people living with HIV.

Since commencing operations in Zimbabwe in September 2016, AHF has worked with Government and other partners to strengthen HIV prevention, treatment and care.

As the organisation enters its next decade, Iutung said stronger partnerships, community ownership and sustainable health financing would be critical to protecting gains in the HIV response.