Zimbabwe Health Transition Fund

In the three years of implementation the Health Transition Fund (HTF) contributed to the removal of certain challenges within the health system thereby enabling the accelerated implementation of high impact cost effective MNCH and nutrition interventions. The HTF supported the retainment and capacity building of human resources in the health system availed essential medicines vaccines and commodities particularly in rural facilities ensuring that facilities were better able to pay for the critical items and services at facility level through the Health Services Fund (HSF). The HTF also strengthened the monitoring and evaluation system. Results achieved as of the end of the project (February 2014) include: (1) a significant increase in skilled birth attendance to 80% by 2014 up from 60% in 2009; (2) 1 600 Village Health Workers were trained in 40 districts using the revised integrated training package; (3) stunting in children under five years decreased from 35% in 2009 to 27.6% in 2014; (4) 11 new Hospital Medicine and Therapeutics Committees were formed in 2014. (5) a significant reduction of staff turnover in the supported facilities and positions the overall vacancy rate among health workers dropped from 21% in 2012 to 16% in 2014; and (6) the Vital Medicines and Health Services Survey reports reveal that the number of primary health facilities offering free full maternity services increased from 86.8% in 2013 to 95.7% in 2014; (7) the percentage of primary health facilities offering free services to children under five increased to from 95.9% to 97.7%.