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Herald Reporter

SADC yesterday convened a joint meeting of regional Ministers of Health where Zimbabwe reflected a positive trajectory in preventing the spread of Covid-19, among other issues.

The joint virtual meeting of Ministers responsible for Health, HIV and Aids in SADC, was chaired by Mozambique and officially opened yesterday, with the regional status report on Covid-19 and the 2020 SADC HIV progress report high on the agenda.

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who is also the Minister of Health and Child Care led the Zimbabwean delegation.

After hours of deliberation, Vice President Chiwenga emphasised the need for member states to explore capacity building on local production of Covid-19 personal protective equipment (PPEs).

On the decision where ministers are invited to direct the secretariat to develop the SADC Strategic Framework for Cross-border programming in HIV and Aids, Vice President Chiwenga said Zimbabwe had adopted the SADC cross-border Wellness Clinics Initiative through the regional global fund grant.

“Four clinics at four border posts have been established,” he said.

“In addition, the country has also established two more border sites giving comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment and care.

“There is need to take cognisance to lessons learnt from the previous cross-border initiatives from the recent South-to-South learning network.”