Today at the Cresta Lodge, the United States celebrated the launch of Mhuri Imuli, a five-year $25 million program to improve the health of Zimbabwean families.  The program will provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC) to expand access to and improve the quality of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health services.

Over the last seven years, USAID and its partners have made impressive progress improving the health of more than 700,000 women and over 1.5 million babies and children in Zimbabwe. Mhuri Imuli will build on these achievements by strengthening the skills and knowledge of health care workers, bolstering community health systems, and integrating maternal and child health services with reproductive health care. 

Mhuri Imuli will improve the health of mothers and children in all seven districts of Manicaland by increasing access to high quality health services, from the home to the community, primary care facilities, and hospitals.  In total, the USAID program will make available critical health services to approximately 1.75 million people in Manicaland province, including hard-to-reach populations.

Despite recent advances, Zimbabwe still struggles with high levels of maternal and child deaths. The 2015/2016 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) demonstrated a reduction in maternal mortality since 2010, from 960 to 651 deaths per 100,000 live births, and in under-5 mortality from 84 to 69 deaths per 1,000 live births. Manicaland province has the worst health outcomes for children in the country, with one in 10 dying before the age of five.

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For more than 30 years, the American people, through USAID, have contributed over $3 billion in assistance to Zimbabwe.  Current projects include initiatives to increase food security, support economic resilience, improve health systems and services, and promote a more democratic system of governance.

For additional information, please contact:
U.S. Embassy Acting Public Affairs Officer John Taylor at HararePAS@state.gov or 
USAID Development Outreach and Communications Specialist Doreen Hove at dhove@usaid.gov