HDF impacting communities

Tanaka Mahanya

UNITED Kingdom ambassador to Zimbabwe, Melanie Robinson, said the Health Development Fund (HDF) had a life changing impact in communities.

She said the HDF touched lives in the face of a series of tough crises during its five years of existence.

“Some of them include Cyclone Idai, drought, inflation, Covid-19 and a global economic downturn.

Naturally, we include extensive planning for risk in all of our programmes.

“But when in 2017 we the UK, EU, Ireland, Sweden and GAVI launched the HDF to strengthen Zimbabwe’s health systems, working with the Government of Zimbabwe, UNICEF, UNFPA and the implementers, no one could have seen the exact shape that all the crises coming our way would take,” she said.

She said the interventions of the HDF reduced cervical cancer in Zimbabwe from 40.9 per every 100 000 women to 36 per every 100 000 women.

“Now, we know that cervical cancer is one of the most easily treatable cancers if detected early enough.

“It needs people on the ground to encourage women to go for early screening and clinics to carry out those tests.

“Here in Zimbabwe, as around the world, the Covid-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities and showed us how important it is to focus on health systems resilience to respond to health emergencies and make sure essential health services remain in place,” said Robinson.