We are delighted to announce that CeSHHAR Zimbabwe will be leading one of USAID’s newly launched projects to provide critical HIV healthcare services in Zimbabwe.
CeSHHAR Zimbabwe will implement the USAID Closing the Gaps: Accelerating and Sustaining HIV Prevention and Care for Sex Workers project in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the National AIDS Council within the national sex work programme, Sister’s with a Voice. Closing the Gaps will break the barriers and close remaining gaps in sustaining and accelerating HIV prevention and care for sex workers in Zimbabwe. In line with the national HIV response, CeSHHAR Zimbabwe will implement differentiated service delivery models for female, male and transgender sex workers with adaptations to meet the specific needs of young women who sell sex (YWSS).
CeSHHAR Zimbabwe will build on more than ten years’ experience in sex worker programming in Zimbabwe, continuing to rely on evidence to effectively deliver intensified and scaled up innovations. As well as reducing new HIV infections through increased use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and condoms, Closing the Gaps will link sex workers to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and support their adherence to treatment. In line with best practice, sex worker community empowerment will remain the base of all implementation with sex workers leading community mobilisation, risk assessment, outreach and linkage to services. In the long term the strengthened collective sex worker response will continue to lead these prevention and linkage to the public sector for clinical services.
Closing the Gaps started on the 1 October 2020.
Link to USAID press release:
https://www.usaid.gov/zimbabwe/press-releases/united-states-launches-two-projects-worth-us78-million