THE passage of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (Zidera) (S 494) of 2001, which marks the renewal of economic sanctions on Zimbabwe will not affect PEPFAR’s funding for HIV programs in Zimbabwe.
By Michael Gwarisa
In an interview with HealthTimes, U.S Presidential Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Coordinator, Mark Troger said HIV funding was here stay and they have already set aside Us$150 million for next year’s HIV programs.
“There is no change to PEPFAR’s funding for HIV programs in Zimbabwe. The recent passage of a ZDERA amendment has no impact on PEPFAR funding in Zimbabwe.
“We’re excited that US$150 million for PEPFAR programs in Zimbabwe has been confirmed for next year. The additional funding continues our ongoing successful strategy to provide more people with life saving treatment and to support extensive prevention activities such has voluntary male medical circumcision, pre-exposure prophylaxis and targeted interventions to prevent HIV transmission among adolescent girls and young women,” said Troger.
He added that they were continuing support to over 350,000 orphans and vulnerable children in the country and would introduce new activities to screen for cervical cancer among HIV positive women.
“Additionally, we are continuing our support to many other activities that strengthen the national system and we continue to coordinate with the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
“We successfully increased the number of districts covered by PEPFAR from 36 to 40 in early 2018.”
Meanwhile, PEPFAR- through its various initiatives- continues to expand and introduce a number of new direct-service delivery (DSD) differentiated models of care to increase access and quality of services received both at the facility and community level. PEPFAR is supporting the scale-up of Community Adolescent Treatment Support groups (CATS) and Community ART Refill Groups (CARGS).
The PEPFAR portfolio covers the entire spectrum of HIV prevention, care and treatment services and has contributed to a reduction in HIV incidence among 15-49 year olds (0.48% in 2017 from an estimated 0.85% in 2009). To reach the aforementioned targets, PEPFAR Zimbabwe has prioritized 40 districts, which represent at least 80% of the HIV burden nationally, to receive a comprehensive package of HIV services tailored by age, sex and risk.
According to the PEPFAR 2017 Fiscal Year (FY) Annual Program Results, a total of 880, 324 adults and children received ART therapy for the period under review while 2, 489, 490 received HIV counselling and testing services and received their tests results during the last 12 months. Pregnant women with known HIV status including those who tested and received results totalled 278, 284.
A total of 38,971 HIV positive pregnant women received antiretroviral to reduce risk of mother to child transmission (MTCT) during pregnancy and delivery and 450, 551 active beneficiaries served by PEPFAR’s Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) program for children and families affected by children received assistance.
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