WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.K. Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), announced at the AIDS 2012 conference a partnership to expand access to anti-retroviral treatment in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe has an adult HIV prevalence of 15 per cent, with an estimated 600,000 adults and children eligible for treatment. The U.K. and PEPFAR are together covering approximately 25 per cent of this need.

In March 2012, President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron reaffirmed their shared commitment to change the lives of 1.2 billion poor people in the world through the U.S.-U.K. Partnership for Global Development.

The new $28 million pledge by DFID will provide adult and pediatric ARVs and advances a nearly decade-long collaboration between the U.K. and PEPFAR to provide cost-effective, quality ARVs to Zimbabwe.  The DFID  funding will be programmed via the PEPFAR’s supply chain infrastructure and leverages existing pooled procurement agreements. The first shipment of these life-saving ARVs is scheduled to arrive in Zimbabwe in August 2012. The treatments will be procured over a four-year period (2012-15). 

The U.K. and PEPFAR have been collaborating closely in Zimbabwe since 2003 on HIV-related programmes and on strengthening the health commodities supply and distribution system. They are jointly supporting distribution of condoms, contraceptives, PMTCT commodities, and HIV diagnostics to over 1,500 health facilities nationwide in order to prevent the spread of the virus. The distribution system (Delivery Truck Topping Up) is implemented by the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council, Ministry of Health and Child Welfare (MoHCW) and NatPharm (Central Medical Stores) and has insured regular availability of condoms at all facilities from an average 20 per cent to below 2 per cent, and helped maintain regular availability of other family planning commodities below 5 per cent. 

Roxana Rogers, Director of the Office of HIV/AIDS at USAID; Malcolm McNeil, Senior Health Adviser, Research and Evidence Division, DFID; and Dr. D.T. Mombeshora, Deputy Minister, Zimbabwe's Ministry of Health and Child Welfare; will discuss the commitment at the XIX International AIDS Conference session organized by the Partnership for Supply Chain Management and USAID on “Supply and demand of HIV/AIDS commodities: Can the global market and national supply chains support continued expansion of HIV/AIDS treatment?” The session will be held on Thursday, 6:30-8:30 PM in Mini Room 2.  For further details, visit the USAID IAS website.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

DFID:
Jas Malhi, and Rob Kelly
enquiry@dfid.gov.uk
+44 (0) 1355 84 3132

PEPFAR:
Bill Coggin
cogginwl@state.gov
202-663-2650