Zimbabwe

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) runs projects in partnership with the Zimbabwean Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), providing treatment for HIV, tuberculosis (TB), non-communicable diseases, and mental health issues.

While HIV prevalence has decreased from 30 per cent in the early 2000s to 15 per cent today, there are still major gaps in services, such as the availability of routine viral load monitoring and second-line antiretroviral (ARV) treatment.

We also offer comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care services for adolescents in the urban district of Mbare, and support the health ministry to respond to disease outbreaks.

MSF teams are currently responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe.

After nine years of offering treatment, care, and support to communities in the Gutu district of Masvingo province, we handed over our HIV and cervical cancer project to the MoHCC and partners.

In April, during the lockdown due to COVID-19, many people in need of care for chronic diseases across the country were unable to access their medicines. To address this, we ensured continuity of care through means including home visits to deliver refills for HIV and non-communicable disease medications.

As a key health care service provider at the Beitbridge border post in Matabeleland South, we supported the MoHCC and the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare by implementing targeted interventions to reach migrants on the move across the border between Zimbabwe and South Africa. These activities included regular mobile outreach and provision of a comprehensive outpatient package that includes mental health support, prevention, screening, and treatment.