International health partnership and financing behemoth, the Global Fund, has been hugely impressed by the progress Zimbabwe has made and the trajectory it is taking in the health delivery system and is mobilising US$500 million to reinforce these successes over the next three years.
The fund notes that Zimbabwe spends its own money, such as that raised by the Aids levy for HIV, and that probably the biggest issue now is to ensure that Zimbabwe can retain its trained and experienced health staff in post as it continues the battle to eliminate maleria and TB and have all those infected with HIV knowing their status, being on ARV medication, and having fully supressed virus levels.
Global Fund’s head of grant management Mr Mark Edington gave the news after meeting Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Constantino Chiwenga on the sidelines of the 5th Global Ministerial Summit held in Switzerland recently.
The Global Fund has been operating in Zimbabwe for more than 20 years, during which the organisation has transformed itself into one of Zimbabwe’s single largest partners in the health sector.
The fund has activated operations in over 100 countries under Mr Edington’s wing.
The fund manager said not many countries can match the kind of progress Zimbabwe has made in HIV, TB, and malaria management and the general strengthening of health systems.
“It was an honour to meet the Honourable Vice President we had a very good discussion about the Global Fund partnership in Zimbabwe over almost 20 years now,” said Mr Eddington.
“We discussed the plans for the next allocation to Zimbabwe which is around $500 million for the years 2024 to 2026.
“(We discussed) the need to focus on retention of key health workers in Zimbabwe which is really a critical issue and the brain drain has been affecting Zimbabwe as well as other countries over the last few years.
“Overall, I would say the Vice President is involved, is very knowledgeable in the programmes and we had a good conversation and we look forward to the partnership continuing.”
Mr Edington said the Global Fund had invested in Zimbabwe primarily because the country had delivered concrete results in the fight against the three diseases of HIV, TB and Malaria as well as Covid-19, with the health system strengthening over the years.
The fund would continue supporting the Government of Zimbabwe, seeing that the progress had been good.
“We have been impressed with the progress there are relatively few countries that have gone to the point Zimbabwe has,” he said.
“Having said that, even at 95 95 95 for HIV, no one can rest on their laurels as there is still a risk of people falling off (HIV) treatment. There is still the other five percent.
“But overall, the fight against HIV in Zimbabwe has been a success and the AIDS levy has been a good initiative and has made sure that more money goes into the fight against HIV so we welcome that.
“We stressed the need for the Global Fund and the Government to continue working closely together, to continue the fight against HIV where the country (Zimbabwe) has almost reached the targets of 95 95 95.
“For malaria, almost half of the districts in the country had been covered and the target was now elimination. There was also that the country would reach the global goals by 2030 of eradicating TB.
“We also discussed some of the investments in health systems that the global fund has made in Zimbabwe over the years.” – The Herald
