Zimbabwe

HIV/AIDS Assets and Strategic Focus

Strategic Focus
CDC Zimbabwe provides support and technical assistance (TA) focusing on two main areas.

1. Building and strengthening key health systems including laboratory systems and human resources for health
2. Promoting the collection and use of health-related data for policy-making and program improvement through the surveillance, evaluation, assessment, and monitoring

The socio-economic challenges of the past decade have compromised the government’s capacity to plan for, respond to, fund, and monitor public health needs. Health care professionals left to work in more stable countries; infrastructures deteriorated and systems of data collection and transmission have fallen apart. Still, Zimbabwe has demonstrated a consistent and marked decline in adult (15-49) HIV prevalence over eight years: 26.0 percent in 2001 to 13.7 percent in 2009.

Strengthening Capacity to Monitor ARV treatment
CDC is helping build the national systems and capacities to provide a comprehensive treatment package. This support is focused primarily on rebuilding the devastated laboratory system, which includes: facility upgrades and renovations, improving laboratory information systems, providing personnel training, and obtaining laboratory accreditation. CDC also supports quality of care in disease management, detection and treatment of co-infections (primarily tuberculosis), and treatment-focused information gathering and analysis, including drug resistance surveillance.

Strengthening Public Health Systems
Through intensive technical assistance, CDC supports public policy and strategic plan development to form the basis of an integrated documented health care system with adequate data for monitoring and improving it. CDC stresses evidence-based policies.