Digital tools help Zimbabwe’s HIV migrants stay in care

• A wave of deportations and anti-immigrant sentiment in South Africa has put over 53,000 migrants at risk, with returning Zimbabweans facing critical interruptions to their HIV treatment.
• Zimbabwean health authorities and NGOs are leveraging digital health platforms and patient-centered care models to ensure continuity of care for returnees.

The Crisis of Displacement

• Sudden displacement frequently leads to lost medical records, abandoned medication, and inability to navigate new health systems.
• Treatment gaps significantly increase the risk of opportunistic infections, poor health outcomes, and the development of drug resistance.
• Returnees face significant barriers, including the psychological stress of losing livelihoods and the fear of HIV status disclosure within their home communities.

Innovative Solutions

• Kutabila Platform: A virtual health service that uses telephone counseling to assess treatment needs, provide adherence support, and refer returning migrants to local facilities. Between June 1 and July 8, it received over 300 calls from returnees.
• Uzwelo (Empathy) Approach: A patient-centered model that replaces punitive tracking with empathetic collaboration. Healthcare workers help patients design treatment plans tailored to their personal circumstances, successfully recovering nearly 25% of patients who had dropped out of care during pilot phases.
• Omalayitsha Network: Traditionally, an informal cross-border transport system allowed migrants to receive six-month drug supplies from Zimbabwe; however, this model is less effective due to the current climate of unpredictable mass returns.

Call to Integration

• The Zimbabwe National AIDS Council (NAC) is urging all returning migrants to register at local clinics immediately, noting that the national health system is equipped to integrate them seamlessly.
• Experts emphasize that HIV care must transcend national borders, requiring regional strategies to maintain viral suppression among mobile populations.