U.S. provides an additional US$2.2 million to support Zimbabwe’s failing health systems
U.S. Embassy, Harare
Public Affairs Section
Press Release: U.S. provides an additional US$2.2 million to support Zimbabwe’s failing health systems
Harare, March 16th 2009: United States Ambassador James McGee announced today that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has released an additional US$2.2 million package of emergency initiatives for malaria, measles, and essential drugs to support Zimbabwe’s failing health systems.
USAID gave $1.7 million for the expansion of Zimbabwe’s medical supply logistics system, ensuring that drugs and commodities are properly coordinated, managed, and reach the intended beneficiaries. An additional $200,000 for malaria prevention will enable the Ministry of Health’s national mosquito spraying program to complete its mission this season. USAID also gave $300,000 for the national measles vaccination campaign.
“The United States of America will continue to support life-saving assistance programs for the Zimbabwean people,” said U.S. Ambassador James McGee. “The cholera crisis is just one terrible result of a much larger, systemic failure of the health system that needs to be addressed.”
The indoor residual spraying program will prevent malaria among more than 2 million Zimbabweans living in high-risk districts that were left unprotected. With U.S. and other donor support, the measles campaign aims to vaccinate 1.7 million children aged 9 to 59 months throughout Zimbabwe. Support to the medical supply and logistics system will help the Ministry of Health coordinate procurement of drugs and health commodities, adequately store and distribute these products in the right places in the right quantities at the right time, and collect data that will allow program managers to properly forecast requirements.
This recent contribution brings the total United States humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe’s food and health crisis to over US$260 million since October 2007. The U.S. is the leading food donor, providing nearly 70 percent of all international food aid distributed in Zimbabwe through NGOs and the UN World Food Program this year. In addition, the U.S. will contribute over $30 million this year for HIV/AIDS programs, in addition to paying for 33 percent of the Global Fund’s multilateral programs.
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