Ministry gets $120m for maternal health care

Of the $120 million, $80 million is earmarked to support the Health Transition Fund (HTF).
The HTF is a multi-donor fund, which was launched in November last year and is managed by Unicef.
It has four main components, which include supporting maternal health, child health, nutrition, provision of medicines, basic equipment, human resources for health and health policy planning and finance.
In an interview yesterday, the Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr Henry Madzorera, said he appreciated the grant and expressed confidence that it would accelerate progress on achieving the health-related Millennium Development              Goals.
“The grant will go a long way in accelerating development in the health sector as efforts are being made to re-establish primary health care. Latest information shows that there are virtually no major stock-outs of drugs and vaccines across the country and more than 90 percent of the 1 400 facilities have most of the required drugs and vaccines.
“However, many challenges still remain in our efforts to provide access to quality health services across the country,” said Dr Madzorera. 
Unicef representative Dr Peter Salama said the objective of the fund was to eliminate user fees for women and children and its target was to benefit more than 30 000 people including children under five and pregnant women.
“This grant represents the largest contribution to date for the HTF. In the last decade, Zimbabwe has witnessed a dramatic decline in the delivery of primary health care services that has led to a major increase in maternal and child mortality. 
“Maternal mortality has doubled since 1990 and now stands at 790 per 100 000 live births. This means that eight women are dying every day while giving birth. In addition, 100 children are dying everyday, mainly due to preventable diseases,” said Dr Salama.
He said there was no doubt that the poorest women and children had felt the impact of the decline in health service delivery over the past decade.
“Despite the decline in health service delivery, significant progress has been made in recent years. Abolishing user fees for pregnant women and children under five and strengthening quality health care will save more lives.
“Over the past three years, efforts made by the Government, combined with investments by international donor partners,           have already made a difference in the health sector,” said Dr Salama.
The head of DfID in Zimbabwe, Mr Dave Fish, said the contribution was a clear demonstration of their commitment to rebuilding the health sector in the country.
“We are confident that our partnership with the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and Unicef will continue to deliver for the most vulnerable people in Zimbabwe.
“We will continue to expand our support for social services in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Over the past four years, the DfID invested more than $100 million through Unicef in Zimbabwe.
The support has contributed to major national programmes such as ensuring every child in the country has a full set of core textbooks, ensuring a guaranteed national supply of essential medicines, providing multi-sectoral support to more than 500 000 orphans and vulnerable children, payment for school fees for an additional 500 000 and helping to prevent another cholera outbreak.