Online Reporter
Wallace Ruzvidzo
Herald Reporter
THE African Development Fund has sanctioned a grant of US$9,57 million to bolster health security and emergency preparedness among SADC member states.
The approval, dated March 3, comes from the concessional window of the African Development Bank Group, whose funding will support the Resilient Health Systems for Emergency Preparedness Project.
Under the project, a regional framework will also be developed for model cross-border laboratories and a mobile cross-border laboratory is set to be deployed at two key border points in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
The African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Director-General for Southern Africa, Kennedy Mbekeani, said this initiative is designed to tackle the ongoing fragility of health systems within the SADC region.
These systems continue to be susceptible to zoonotic diseases, cholera outbreaks, elevated rates of malnutrition and a shortage of human resources, along with insufficient emergency preparedness measures.
“This operation aims to address the persistent fragility of health systems in the SADC, which remain vulnerable to zoonotic outbreaks and cholera epidemics, high malnutrition rates and limited human resources, as well as inadequate emergency preparedness,” said Mr Mbekeani.
The African Development Bank Group said the primary objective of this initiative is to enhance the resilience and capability of health systems throughout the SADC region, enabling them to respond more effectively to public health and nutrition crises.
As part of the project, 449 laboratory technicians, community health workers and trainers will undergo training, with 269 of them being women.
The training approaches will be carefully tailored to incorporate gender considerations, climate change adaptation and the One Health framework.
