AHF to Launch Community Power Voices in eThekwini - Empowering Communities to Demand Health Equity

In a bold step toward transforming healthcare advocacy, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) South Africa will launch the Community Power Voices (CPV) initiative on 8 August 2025 at the AHF Westville Offices in Durban. The launch aims to ignite a movement to amplify the voices of communities in eThekwini, ensuring that those most affected by health inequities lead the charge towards systemic reform and establishing favorable, well-informed, implementable policies.

Amid widespread health system failures and deepening socioeconomic hardships, the call for community-led advocacy has never been more urgent. Too often, policies are shaped by those far removed from the realities of poverty, stigma, and broken care. The CPV initiative empowers communities to rise, speak out, and demand accountability for the right to health.

Why CPV Are Needed Now

Systemic failures in healthcare delivery have left communities vulnerable, with gaps in HIV treatment, ART adherence, and equitable access to services exacerbating the leaking bucket that is threatening HIV response. The CPV model harnesses the raw power of community voices to demand:

• Improved health service delivery that meets the needs of the most marginalized.
• Increased patient retention and ART adherence through community-driven support.
• Active community participation in policy dialogues and healthcare planning.
• Uncompromising accountability and transparency in public health responses.

By educating, mobilizing, and empowering communities, CPV will work hand-in-hand with AHF and partners to dismantle barriers and build a future where health equity is a reality for all. 

A Movement Rooted in Community Strength

With the rallying cry, “We have a right to health,” CPVs confront barriers in HIV and public health systems, fostering accountability, transparency, and community-driven solutions. More than a program, CPV is a movement—mobilizing patients, allies, and local champions as structured advocacy platforms across AHF-supported regions, with active chapters already making an impact in Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Nigeria, and Malawi.

A Call to Action 

The launch of Community Power Voices is a beacon of hope that AHF hopes will gain momentum across the continent, signaling a new chapter where communities are no longer silenced but celebrated as the architects of change. AHF invites all stakeholders, government, civil society, media, and local leaders—to join us in this transformative journey.

AHF launched its first global program in South Africa in 2002. AHF South Africa currently provides HIV/AIDS care and treatment to nearly 260,000 clients.