US aid cuts push Zimbabwe’s sex workers into dangerous choices
In Harare’s crumbling outskirts, sex worker Sharon Mukakanhanga clutched a pair of baby socks — the desperate substitute she once used when condoms ran out. “These little socks served as condoms when I became so desperate after the American government withdrew its support,” the 43-year-old said, recalling how US aid cuts gutted her trusted health clinic. Mukakanhanga is one of thousands of sex workers left scrambling for protection since US President Donald Trump cut foreign health aid earlier this year. The move crippled HIV prevention programmes in Zimbabwe that had relied heavily on PEPFAR, Washington’s flagship HIV initiative. Rising deaths, shrinking support Official figures show 5,932 AIDS-related deaths in the first half of 2025, up from 5,712 a year earlier. Clinics once stocked with free condoms and antiretrovirals are now shuttered or overwhelmed. “It was a very difficult period. I […]