Location: Chipinge
Situation:
In 2006, a third of Zimbabwe''s adults were HIV positive and life expectancy was barely over 36 years. The 2007 Prevalence Estimate Survey conducted by UNAIDS/National AIDS Council estimated the HIV prevalence rate at 15.6% (for adults aged 15-49) . This compares to the prevalence rate in adults in the UK of around 0.2%. With over 1 300 000 people who are HIV positive, the health situation in Zimbabwe is one of the most disastrous in Africa.
After representing a model for economic and social development after its independence, the country has been experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis since 1998. Since then, the government''s recurrently controversial policies and the violence of the current political climate following the recent elections have driven the country into isolation and have resulted in an overall reduction in international aid. This high level of insecurity has made it increasingly harder for humanitarian workers to access and treat local populations, including orphanages. On top of this, an acute food crisis, severe water shortages and an economy in decline contribute to a considerable rise in infant mortality, the highest the country has even known.
Our Activities:
In partnership with Doctors of the World Canada, MdM Spain and a local NGO called FACT; Doctors of the World France is developing a comprehensive approach across Chipinge district combining:
• Community information and awareness-raising;
• Training community health agents;
• Running home-based care services for housebound HIV-positive patients;
• Psycho-social and therapeutic support to orphans and vulnerable children;
• Training health personnel;
• Running information and testing centres;
• Supporting prevention activities and treatment in four hospitals and 44 clinics in the district;
• Setting up monitoring and evaluation tools.
Our Outlook:
• Transfering our community activities to our local partner, FACT.
• Disengaging from the screening process and STI care: taken over by local medical authorities
• Progressive reorientation of activities according to the following guidelines:
o Support for the decentralisation of antiretroviral medicines in secondary hospitals and the district’s health centers
o Improving the access to ARV treatments for patients benefiting from home based care
o Prevention of mother to child transmission
o Pediatric care
Project Start date: May 2004
End date: December 2010
