Harare, 20 January 2012

With an average  ‘A’ rated performance in the implementation of the Round 8 phase 1 grant cycle, the Global Fund in Zimbabwe marked the end of Round 8 Phase 1  grant  cycle with a remarkable achievement in all the four grants targeting HIV and AIDS; Tuberculosis;  Malaria; and Health System Strengthening (HSS)in December 2011.

 During its first quarter of implementation, the ratings for HIV were B1; Malaria B2; TB B1; HSS B1.

“The first phase of the Global Fund grants was implemented quite successfully in Zimbabwe, ”said the Minister of Health and Child Welfare Dr. Henry Madzorera , adding: ““Through the Global Fund, various life-saving interventions have been undertaken and continue to be a priority, in the area of HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria prevention and treatment through a very good partnership between UNDP and the government of Zimbabwe represented by Ministry of Health and Child Welfare.” 

Some examples of the Zimbabwe GF achievement include:  A milestone achievement in the fight  against malaria, wherein the health sector in Zimbabwe registered a notable success with the formulation and dissemination of the “Malaria in Pregnancy Policy” s widely circulated to all health facilities in the country to strengthen malaria prevention and case management efforts amongst pregnant women.  In addition, the Malaria Programme Review (MPR) in  June 2011 confirmed the decline of malaria prevalence in the country; dropping from a high of 136 people in 1000 in the year 2000 to 49 per 1000 in the year 2010.The decline was attributed to increased investments in Malaria Control through support from Roll Back Malaria initiatives, funded by the Global Fund and other  donor partners.

 Furthermore, a  multi-agency supportive and supervision site visit conducted in October 2011 in all the 10 provinces revealed that the country had adequate stock levels of anti-malarial drugs and that the 2011-2012 indoor residual spraying programme was on track to meet the target coverage. The exercise was conducted in collaboration with development partners such as WHO, Population Services International (PSI), PLAN International, UNDP and the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP).

In the area of HIV and AIDS, nearly 400,000 adults and children with advanced HIV infection were reported as receiving antiretroviral therapy while an estimated 260,000 benefitted from a series of outreach programmes focusing on HIV prevention and interpersonal communication. Progress was also made at the policy level with the finalisation of the Zimbabwe National Aids Strategic Plan (2011-2015) as well as the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan.

 National efforts to address the menace of tuberculosis received a major boost with the development of new centres for TB testing—microscopic sites—in various parts of the country, with 31 of them established in the year 2011 alone. According to a 2011 third quarter report from the National Quality Control service, about 108 sites out of 111 (about 97.3%) were now performing smear microscopy, compared with half that amount in the same period the previous  year. The TB intervention also entailed treatment, HIV counselling and training of health workers.

 Under the Health System Strengthening component, there was overall efficiency improvement in operations, due largely to the application of new information and communication technologies. This included distribution of a thousand cell phones equipped with data capturing software (FRONTLINE) to rural health sectors. Rural health workers were trained in the appropriate use of the cell phones, provided courtesy of technical and financial support from Research Triangle Institute International (RTI) and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This resulted in timely weekly disease surveillance reporting. Similarly, UNDP undertook an on-the job training exercise for staff of the Health Services Board (HSB), on analysis of field data, to help strengthen quality information gathering and documentation. Furthermore, the District Health Information System was upgraded, leading to increased efficiency.

 The Capacity Development Plan, which aimed at developing skills and building awareness was equally successful, through the provision of new equipment and the training of some 1,688 people in such key areas as monitoring and evaluation (806), finance (141), project management and strategic planning,  among others (741).

 UNDP became the Principal Recipient (PR) of the global fund grants in August 2009 under the Additional Safeguard Policy (ASP) of the Global Fund. A total of 7 Global Fund grants were approved with a total budget of US$ 250,764,156 of which US$ 179,959,142 was for  Phase I of Round 8 Grants covering  the period 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2011. GF grants are implemented in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare (MoHCW), Health Services Board (HSB), National AIDS Council (NAC), Zimbabwe AIDS Network (ZAN) and other local and international NGOs.

 Phase 2 of the Program is expected to start in 2012 and end on 31 December 2014.