Zimbabwe
EGPAF congratulates Dr. Agnes Mahomva, Country Director for Zimbabwe, on winning USAID's Auxilia Chimusoro Leadership Award in December 2011! This prestigious award honors individuals and organizations that have excelled in addressing HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe. Read more here (see middle of page).
EGPAF began supporting Zimbabwe’s prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) program in 2001 at three pilot sites. Today, EGPAF is currently supporting a total of 1,355 sites, accounting for approximately 87% coverage throughout the country.
EGPAF is the primary partner in providing technical support to the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare (MOHCW) to increase access to comprehensive, high-quality PMTCT services that are closely linked to HIV/AIDS treatment, care and support for families, including children living with HIV. EGPAF recently expanded its partnership with the MOHCW by supporting a package of district level activities to strengthen district-level PMTCT and pediatric services nationwide towards achieving the full-scale elimination of pediatric HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe.
EGPAF’s activities in Zimbabwe are carried out in partnership with three Family AIDS Initiatives (FAI) Consortium partners: the JF Kapnek Charitable Trust, the Organization for Public Health Interventions and Development (OPHID), and the Zimbabwe AIDS Prevention Project (ZAPP), all of whom provide technical assistance and resource support to the national program as guided by the national PMTCT and Pediatric HIV Strategic Plan.
Read the official EGPAF country brochure for Zimbabwe here.
Program Implementation
EGPAF, together with its FAI Consortium partners, is supporting the expansion of comprehensive PMTCT services throughout Zimbabwe in collaboration with the MOHCW. EGPAF’s program implementation activities in Zimbabwe are focused on:
- Supporting the expansion and provision of high-quality PMTCT and HIV care and treatment services;
- Assisting in the development, review, and update of national policies and guidelines that strengthen and support expansion of PMTCT and HIV care and treatment programs, thus building the capacity of health care workers to provide support to adults, children, and families affected by HIV and AIDS; and
- Developing and strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems for improved PMTCT service delivery.
Photo: EGPAF
Research
EGPAF advances research aimed at increasing access to and uptake of high-quality, integrated HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment services throughout the country. Research activities include the review and enhancement of evidence-based HIV/AIDS programming, such as national program policy reviews and updates, and the analysis of PMTCT service cost-effectiveness to support implementation of the WHO 2010 Guidelines through an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and in collaboration with the MOHCW and Harvard University.
EGPAF supported the MOHCW to compete an evaluation and revision of the Child Health Card to accommodate the 2010 WHO PMTCT and Infant and Young Feeding guidelines, and provided technical lead support for the national ART in MCH pilot led by the MOHCW to strengthen the capacity and confidence of healthcare workers to initiate eligible pregnant women on ART.
Zimbabwe from EGPAF on Vimeo.
Advocacy
Through increasing its visibility, strengthening relationships, and participating in policy development and coordination, EGPAF seeks to advance its role and that of its FAI Consortium partners as influential leaders in public health policy and national advocates for the elimination of pediatric HIV and AIDS. EGPAF participates in national coordination meetings, technical working groups, and stakeholder meetings to ensure PMTCT issues remain high on the national agenda and that health policy decisions are evidence-based. Additionally, EGPAF provides technical assistance and financial resources to strengthen the FAI Consortium’s capacity to build HIV/AIDS awareness through national-, provincial-, and district-level advocacy.
Zimbabwe in the EGPAF Blog
Photo Story about Zimbabwe
Photo: EGPAF
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Zimbabwe Program Highlights*
As of December 31, 2011, EGPAF-supported programs had:
- Reached more than 1.3 million pregnant women in antenatal care.
- Counseled and tested more than one million pregnant women
- Provided more than 162,000 pregnant women living with HIV and more than 119,000 HIV-exposed infants with ARV prophylaxis
*Data cumulative from program start through December 31, 2011.