“CDC/Zimbabwe is proud to partner with the UZ Department of Community Medicine and the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare to strengthen leadership and management capacity at the district level, which is necessary to achieve the health goals of the nation. The rubber hits the road in public health at the district level,” said Dr. Peter Kilmarx, Director of CDC/Zimbabwe.
CDC, with funding from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), has supported the DHE training for just over one year through cooperative agreements. The program is a five-year initiative worth $650,000 per year and is part of a Health Leadership, Management and Governance Project (LMGP) being rolled out throughout Zimbabwe to rebuild and “re-skill” health managers and their professional teams.
Workshop participants come from six districts from the provinces of Mashonaland Central (Mount Darwin and Centenary), Mashonaland East (Chivhu and Hwedza) and Mashonaland West (Mhondoro Ngezi and Makonde). This is the fourth such workshop to be conducted with CDC- Zimbabwe support. At its conclusion, 140 DHEs will have been trained covering 24 districts throughout Zimbabwe. The previous DHE cluster trainings had representation from Makoni, Rushinga, Mudzi, Nyanga, Shamva, Mtawatawa, Nkayi, Gwanda, Beitbridge, Chiredzi, Mwenezi, Hwange, Kariba, Zvimba, Hurungwe, Gokwe South, Shurugwi and Zvishavane districts.
Hailing CDC support, an official from the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare said the “strengthening of the District Health Care Delivery system is still considered the most imperative strategy for proficient delivery of essential health care and for effective participation of the people in the planning of its utilization.”
“Zimbabwe recognized the district as the operational level for planning, implementation and coordination of government health policies. The District Health Executive, led by the District Medical Officer, is given the responsibility of directing the operations of the health delivery system,” said Dr. Clemence Tshuma, Provincial Medical Director for Mashonaland Central province.
The United States remains fully committed and engaged with Zimbabwe in the fight against HIV/AIDS through PEPFAR. Under the program, PEPFAR and CDC will continue to support the strengthening of public health training programs through the provision of technical and financial assistance.
Post published in: News