Geographical Locations - Zimbabwe

• (Statistical) Number of Inhabitants per Doctor: 1,064
• CIA World Factbook : Zimbabwe

Organisations and Networks

UN and Multinational

• WHO
  - WHO Country Profile - Zimbabwe
  - WHO - Tobacco Control: Zimbabwe
  - WHO - Environmental Burden of Disease: Country Profile – Zimbabwe
  - WHO - Malaria Country Profile - Zimbabwe
• UNDP Zimbabwe

Government

• Zimbabwe Government Online
• Ministry of Health and Child Welfare
• Blair Research Institute
  The Blair Research Institute is a centre for promoting health development in Zimbabwe through scientific research.

Non-Government

• CARE in Zimbabwe
  CARE International began work in Zimbabwe in 1992 in response to a severe drought. Initial operations focused on emergency food programmes. CARE Zimbabwe programming has since shifted focus from relief activities to longer-term development approaches. Current projects are in the areas of agriculture and natural resources management and small economic activity development.
• Forum for Food Security ion Southern Africa
  The purpose of the Forum for Food Security in Southern Africa, which has operated since 2003, is to provide a platform for improved linkages between food security analysis, policy making and implementation in the Southern Africa region. It covers the region as a whole and five specific countries: Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique Mozambq, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It has brought together those in government, official donors, NGOs, civil society, the private sector, and international and regional researchers concerned with food security.
• Marie Stopes International Zimbabwe
  Marie Stopes International provides sexual and reproductive health information and services to 4.3 million people worldwide. This site outlines the organisation's activities in Zimbabwe.
• Training and Research Centre (TARSC)
  "TARSC is a non-profit organisation providing training, research and support services to state and civil society organisations. Its emphasis is on skills building and methods to support community based work with a commitment to long term capacity building in the public sector and in civil society"

Academic Institutions

National Policy and Related Documents

• National Health Strategy for Zimbabwe, 2009-2013
  "This five Year National Health Strategy should serve two purposes; first to provide a framework for immediate resuscitation of the health sector and second, to put Zimbabwe back on track towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals… The document is structured along the following lines:- (i) Context for the National Health Strategy: Overall context for this health strategy including the mandate, vision and mission of the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, and Zimbabwe's demography, health status, burden of disease and health system functioning; (ii) Part One: Determinants Of Health: The strategic goals, objectives and proposed strategies to address the determinants of health, including the socioeconomic environmental and behavioural factors, that contribute to the disease burden in Zimbabwe; (iii) Part Two: Specific diseases affecting Zimbabweans: The strategic goals, objectives and proposed strategies aimed at addressing specific diseases affecting Zimbabweans. For each disease, condition or population group there is a short description of the Status, Trends and Way Forward. A deliberate effort has been made to make each chapter as comprehensive as possible and as a result, some recurring themes will be noted in most sections as “Key issue to be addressed”; (iv) Part Three: Health System Strengthening: The strategic goals, objectives and proposed strategies aimed at addressing the environment that has to be in place for the implementation of the interventions that will lead the nation to its vision; [and] (v) Part Four: Inclusive Implementation: The strategic goals, objectives and proposed strategies aimed at ensuring the critical and inclusive participation of all stakeholders in successfully implementing this strategy for the health of the nation."
• Zimbabwe: National Environmental Health Policy

Reports, Guidelines, and Projects

• Cholera in Zimbabwe
  "Cholera in Zimbabwe remains uncontrolled, with cholera-associated deaths continuing to be reported in 9 of the nation’s 10 provinces.1 In the 4 months since the outbreak began in August 2008, more than 35,000 suspected cases have been reported, including 1753 deaths. All provinces are affected but Harare sees almost one third of cases. It is possible that the cumulative numbers could double over the next few months, especially as January to March is a rainy season. The case fatality rate is a remarkably high 3% to 10%, reflecting the difficult circumstances faced by local healthcare providers and the increasingly involved external agencies." [Annals Academy of Medicine, January 2009, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp.82-83]
• Distribution of public sector health workers in Zimbabwe: A challenge for equity in health
  "Zimbabwe, like many other countries in the region, is badly affected by a shortage of health workers. Many of the health indicator improvements achieved during the first ten years of independence are on the decline and the main reason for this is shortage of skilled and experienced health workers at a time when demand for services is increasing due to a growing population and the challenges posed by HIV/AIDS. The public sector provides as much as 65% of health care services in the country (MoHCW 2004), and so a shortage of public sector health workers affects a great majority of the population." [EQUINET Discussion Paper Number 34, April 2006]
• E-Health in Zimbabwe: the role and the capacity of the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences Library
  Healthcare providers and policy makers require current and relevant health information for patient care, research and healthcare reforms. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have enhanced access to affordable health information in most developing countries. E-health sounds a new concept in health informatics in Zimbabwe but developments in the application of ICTs in the health sector reflect e-health in action. E-health is not only a technical development, but also a way of thinking to improve health care by using information and communication technology. Teaching hospitals’ medical libraries are crucial in strengthening healthcare through facilitating accessibility and availability of appropriate health information. The question that may be asked is to what extent is the local College Library capable of participating in e-health. This paper explores the existing ICT supporting infrastructure and the capacity of the College Library to increase health information access through the adoption of e-health. [author abstract] [University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences Library, 2006]
• HIV/AIDS in the Zimbabwe Defence Force: A civil society perspective
  "This chapter constitutes a civil society perspective of HIV/AIDS and the military in Zimbabwe. A brief background is provided outlining the country’s geographic and demographic profile, political economy, aspects of food supply and civil society’s concern about the militarisation of civilian institutions. A detailed outline of the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe is provided, including Zimbabwe’s response to the pandemic, followed by some discussion of recent results that reflect a decline in national HIV prevalence. The chapter then attempts to examine the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS within the military and the military’s response to the pandemic, using data that is available to the public. The military’s recruitment, in-service and post-employment policies in relation to HIV/AIDS are outlined. These policies are juxtaposed against local, regional (Southern African Development Community — SADC) and international (International Labour Organisation — ILO, United Nations — UN) policies on occupational health and HIV/AIDS in the workplace. Various recommendations are offered on how Zimbabwe’s military could use its leading role in the region to impact on various international levels…" [Chapter 6 of The Enemy Within: Southern African Militaries' Quarter-Century Battle with HIV and AIDS, edited by Martin Rupiya. Institute for Security Studies, Pretoria, South Africa, October 2006, pp.157-188]
• Prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV: evaluation of a pilot programme in a district hospital in rural Zimbabwe
  Problem: Zimbabwe has one of the highest rates of HIV seroprevalence in the world. In 2001 only 4% of women and children in need of services for prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV were receiving them. Design: Pilot implementation of the first programme for prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV in rural Zimbabwe. Setting: 120 bed district hospital in Buhera district (285 000 inhabitants), Manicaland, Zimbabwe. Key measures for improvement: Programme uptake indicators monitored for 18 months; impact of policy evaluated by assessing up-scaling of programme. Strategies for change: Voluntary counselling and testing services for HIV were provided in the hospital antenatal clinic.Women identified as HIV positive and informed of their serostatus and their newborn were offered a single dose antiretroviral treatment of nevirapine; mother-child pairs were followed up through routine health services. Nursing staff and social workers were trained, and community mobilisation was conducted. Effects of change: No services for prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV were available at baseline. Within 18 months, 2298 pregnant women had received pretest counselling, and the acceptance of HIV testing reached 93.0%. Of all 2137 women who had an HIV test, 1588 (74.3%) returned to collect their result; 326 of the 437 HIV positive women diagnosed had post-test counselling, and 104 (24%) mother-child pairs received nevirapine prophylaxis. Lessons learnt: Minimum staffing, an enhanced training programme, and involvement of district health authorities are needed for the implementation and successful integration of services for prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV. Voluntary counselling and testing services are important entry points for HIV prevention and care and for referral to community networks and medical HIV care services. A district approach is critical to extend programmes for prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV in rural settings. The lessons learnt from this pilot programme have contributed to the design of the national expansion strategy for prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV in Zimbabwe. [author abstract] [BMJ 2004; 329; 1147-1150]
• Retention incentives for health workers in Zimbabwe
  "This paper investigates the impact of the framework and strategies to retain critical health professionals (CHPs) that the Zimbabwean government has put in place, particularly regarding non-financial incentives, in the face of continuing high out-migration. The out-migration of CHPs to countries in the region or overseas remains one of Zimbabwe's most pressing problems. The movement of staff is not only from lower to higher levels in the public sector, or from public to private institutions. Now even lower-level staff are leaving in increasing numbers for other countries in the region or beyond. Their departure confronts the assumption that these newly trained staff would replace experienced staff who had already emigrated. The paper examines the impacts of non-financial retention incentives being applied, and makes recommendations aimed at enhancing the monitoring, evaluation and management of the incentives by the Zimbabwe Health Service Board (ZHSB), the institution responsible for administering them." [Regional Network for Equity in Health in East and Southern Africa (EQUINET), Discussion Paper 65, September 2008]
• Skilled health professionals' migration and its impact on health delivery in Zimbabwe
  The paper investigates the magnitude of migration of health professionals from Zimbabwe, the causes of such movements and the associated impacts on health care delivery. International migration of health professionals has led to staff shortages and the situation is worse in public compared to private health institutions. The quality of care given to patients has also declined. The research calls for the adoption of an integrated approach in solving the concerns of health professions. [author abstract] [Centre on Migration, Policy and Society Working Paper No. 4 University of Oxford, 2004 (WP-04-04)]
• UNICEF Humanitarian Action: Zimbabwe in 2008
  "The humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe continues to evolve along with a complex, overlapping and often worsening set of economic and social factors leading to poor health and social outcomes for women and children. In addition, there are growing concerns about the possibility of widespread disease outbreaks, and of rising malnutrition. An increasingly uncertain pattern of weather, combined with policy constraints, is making farming difficult and unpredictable, resulting in 4.1 million food insecure people in both urban and rural areas during the peak of the ‘hungry season’ in 2008." [UNICEF Humanitarian Action Report 2008]
• United Nations General Assembly (UNGASS) Report on HIV and AIDS: Follow-up to the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS - Zimbabwe Country Report (Reporting Period: January 2006-December 2007)
  "Zimbabwe with a projected adult (15-49 years) population of 12 million people is one of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that has been severely affected by the HIV and AIDS epidemic1 According to the National HIV Estimates of 2007, the estimated HIV prevalence among adults 15-49 years is 15.6%2. An estimated 1,320,739 (adults and children) were living with HIV and AIDS and of this population, an estimated 102 566 were estimated to be in urgent need of antiretroviral therapy by the end of 2007. The country is experiencing a decline in HIV prevalence that is supposed to have started in the late 1990’s. A decline was observed in both sentinel surveillance of pregnant women and in the National HIV Estimates process that models available data using the Epidemic Projection Package (EPP) and Spectrum software. Among pregnant women (15-49 years), HIV prevalence declined from 25.8% in 2004 to 17.7% in 2006. In the general population, using the current 2007 EPP and Spectrum software, HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe was estimated to be 26.5% in 2001, and therefore declined to 23.2% in 2003, and 19.4% in 2005, and to 15.6% in 20073. The decline in HIV prevalence is attributed to a combination of mortality and a decline in HIV incidence due to behavior change."

Educational Resources

• CDC - Travel Information : Southern Africa
• Demographic and Health Surveys - Country Statistics Zimbabwe
  MEASURE DHS assists developing countries worldwide in the collection and use of data to monitor and evaluate population, health, and nutrition programs. Demographic and Health Surveys provide national and sub-national data on family planning, maternal and child health, child survival, HIV/AIDS/sexually transmitted infections (STIs), infectious diseases, reproductive health and nutrition.
• Sexual Health Exchange
  Sexual Health Exchange is a quarterly, 16-page newsletter produced by KIT in collaboration with SAfAIDS - Southern Africa AIDS Information Dissemination Service - in Harare, Zimbabwe. In line with current developments and thinking, HIV/AIDS and STDs are related to a wider reproductive and sexual health framework. The newsletter provides policy guidance and ideas for possible initiatives. It serves as a forum for the exchange of innovative programme experiences world-wide.