Zimbabwe

Introduction

Malaria transmission is seasonal in Zimbabwe, occurring between December and April with about 60% of the population at risk. The annual reported number of malaria cases in 2010 was 648,965 with 255 deaths.

Progress

Zimbabwe has made steady progress in scaling-up malaria control interventions and has, in particular, been successful in attracting resources through the Global Fund including through Rounds 8 and 10. Zimbabwe has removed tariffs on spray pumps and has recently banned oral artemisinin-based monotherapies. Zimbabwe has introduced a policy on Community Case Management of malaria but has yet to introduce a policy on Community Case Management of pneumonia. The country has increased coverage of key MNCH interventions, in particular PMTCT.

Impact

The probable and confirmed malaria cases reported decreased from 1.6 million cases annually during 2004–2005 to 648,965 in 2010. Similarly, the reported number of inpatient malaria cases and deaths also fell.

Key Challenges

• Delays in the disbursements of Global Fund resources leading to procurement delays.
• Delays and under-reporting of malaria cases and deaths from the National Health Information System: leading to inconsistent reporting on malaria mortality data.