Health and Child Care ministry last week Friday launched an HIV and Health Situation Room, an innovative new tool to share data and monitor progress to close the gaps in HIV and health programming in Zimbabwe.
In his address, the Minister, Dr Obadiah Moyo said the HIV and Health Situation Room will provide snapshots of health data for different users, matching their needs for analytics and enabling immediate action.
“This Integrated Health Situation Room is an illustration on how we can, through good use of technology, improve the use our existing health information systems and make our e-health strategy a reality. It also demonstrates well the government’s commitment towards transparency and accountability to the public they serve,” said Dr Moyo
UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Shannon Hader explained that the data dashboards are accessible to users online but are also distributed through regular updates over email and mobile devices
“To reach the 90-90-90 targets of 2020 and to end AIDS by 2030 we need more dynamic health systems, which can allocate our scarce resources more effectively than ever. For this we need innovative tools like the Zimbabwe HIV and health Situation Room, which enables authorities to act swiftly on changing circumstances, and allocate resources where most needed. It is crucial in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals for Health by 2030”, says Hader.
The latest data from the Zimbabwe Integrated Situation Room shows over 170,000 positive HIV test results from last year, and in total now over 1,150,000 people are on a life-saving HIV treatment.
The estimates show that the new HIV infections have dropped by 38% since 2010.
New HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women between the ages of 15 and 24 years remain high in the country and account for almost 1 in 3 (35%) of new HIV infections in a year.
In order to improve access to health services by the people who need them most, the HIV and Health Situation Room aims to speed up and streamline communications between policy-makers and implementers.
This will enable Zimbabwe to stay on track to reach its national HIV and health targets, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals on ending AIDS by 2030.
This initiative supports data revolution becoming a reality in Zimbabwe’s AIDS response and health systems.
