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Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief

ACTING President Dr Constantino Chiwenga yesterday commissioned the US$200 000 state-of-the-art Gweru Provincial Hospital (GPH) Opportunistic Infections (OI)/antiretroviral therapy (ART) Centre of Excellence (COE) that will provide services to people in need of HIV specialised care and support.

In order to ensure effective treatment and care for people with HIV, the OI/ART centre is a separate and private facility.

Services offered at the centre include HIV prevention (free HIV testing and counselling), comprehensive HIV care for adults and children living with HIV, onsite laboratory and pharmaceutical services.

In the past individuals seeking such services were not seperated from other patients seeking different services at the hospital hence there was no privacy for people living with HIV.

The COE has consultation rooms and a built-in pharmacy and is therefore a one-stop shop as patients get all the services they need under one roof.

The construction of the COE was funded by the Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Zimbabwe in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Child Care.

AHF Zimbabwe is supporting the ministry to establish COEs across the country.

The Gweru COE will also provide quality and affordable health services to People Living with HIV/ AIDS (PLWHA) from across the Midlands province.

The Minister of State for Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution Larry Mavima commissioned the OI/ART COE on behalf of the Acting President Dr Chiwenga who is also the Minister of Health and Child Care.

In his speech read by Minister Mavima, Acting President Chiwenga said the Second Republic ably led by President Mnangagwa is spearheading development across all sectors as guided by Vision 2030. 

He said the vision is being operationalised by the National Development Strategy (NDS 1) which is running from 2021 through to 2025.

He said access to quality health services is one of the key NDS1 deliverables.

“We are gathered here to witness the results of our national vision where the tangible output of a modern One- Stop-health services shop has been successfully constructed and subsequently fully equipped. The health facility was developed following the establishment of a mutual partnership between the Government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the development partner AHF,” said Acting President Chiwenga.

He said the agreement for the setting up of the COE came about through the realisation that the existing infrastructure is now inadequate in view of the increased demand in OI/ART and other health services. 

“This was indeed compromising the quality of services especially in terms of patients’ confidentiality. Now that this facility has been developed, I urge everyone, especially men to improve their health seeking behaviour. HIV/Aids is a major public health issue in Zimbabwe but however as a country, we have made significant progress in the HIV care and treatment programmes over the last decade,” said the Acting President.

He said the increase in the number of clients on ART over the last decade has been achieved through use of standard and simplified treatment guidelines and standard training curriculum, community mobilisation, political commitment and effective partnerships like the one witnessed at Gweru Provincial Hospital.

The development, Acting President Chiwenga said, is a clear confirmation of the fruits of President Mnangagwa’s engagement and reengagement strategy. 

“In deed this also demonstrates the unity of purpose and cooperation as we make the NDS 1 operational. We are very grateful to AHF for constructing the state of the art COE at this hospital valued at about US$200 000. This is quite in line with the Government’s quest for promote investment through PPPs (public-private partnerships). I want to take this opportunity to challenge all other private entities to emulate the gesture shown by AHL,” he said.

Acting President Chiwenga said the Government was alive to the need to improve the conditions of service for health workers and all civil servants.

“As we celebrate this achievement of the expansion and improvement of the quality of health care services, let’s also be cognisant of the commitment and efforts by the Second Republic towards the improvement of health care workers and all other civil servant’s welfare. In spite of the international economic challenges, our Government continues to review the salaries and other benefits of its workforce,” he said.

“I also want to express Government’s gratitude to the committed health care workers and all other civil servants who have continued to work for their country.”

The Acting President bemoaned the abuse of drugs by youths. 

“As we celebrate the opening of the OI/ART COE I remain seized with concern over the surge in substance abuse by our youths. This hospital on average attends 12 cases per month. I therefore call upon all stakeholders to put our heads together and do something about this scourge. Let me challenge the medical superintendent (Dr Fabian Mashingaidze) and his team to put this facility to good use,” he said.

AHF director of quality management and clinical operations, Dr Nduduzo Dube said the foundation has aligned its programmes to feed into Zimbabwe’s National Health Strategy which aims at improving the health and wellbeing of the population.

He said AHF feeds into the Zimbabwe National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan 2021-2025 which seeks to accelerate progress towards ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. 

“AHF Zimbabwe is spearheading the process of transforming the OI/ART clinics at key Central Hospitals and Provincial Hospitals into Centres of Excellence in terms of HIV treatment and care. We have also made structural renovations at different sites. We are supporting OI clinics at Parirenyatwa, Mpilo and Sally Mugabe central hospitals. We are also supporting Victoria Chitepo, Gwanda and Gweru Provincial hospitals,” said Dr Dube.

Dr Mashingaidze said the hospital has 3 600 people registered for HIV treatment and care.

AHF board member Ms Diana Hoorzuk said the foundation is providing medical care and treatment services in 45 countries worldwide of which 13 of these countries are in Africa including Zimbabwe.

“AHF is supporting care and treatment of more than 1,6 million patients in partnership with governments in the different countries. In Zimbabwe the foundation started operating in 2016,” she said.