Zambia HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care and Treatment (ZPCT) Partnership

President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The project aims to strengthen and expand HIV/AIDS clinical and prevention services in six provinces: Central, Copperbelt, Luapula, Northern, North Western, and Muchinga. ZPCT II supports the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) goals of reducing prevalence rates and providing antiretroviral therapy (ART). During the quarter, ZPCT II continued providing support to all districts in the six provinces. The project is consolidating and integrating services in facilities and communities to ensure seamless delivery of a comprehensive package reaching the household level. ZPCT II is also working to increase the Ministry of Health's (MOH) capacity to monitor, maintain, and improve quality throughout the national health system by fully integrating ZPCT II quality assurance/quality improvement (QA/QI) systems into day-to-day operations at all levels. The five main objectives of ZPCT II are to expand existing HIV/AIDS services and scale up new services, increase the involvement and participation of partners and stakeholders, increase the capacity of the provincial medical offices (PMOs) and district medical offices (DMOs) to perform technical and program management functions, build and manage public-private partnerships to expand and strengthen HIV/AIDS service delivery, and integrate service delivery and other activities at the national, provincial, district, facility, and community levels. ZPCT II is taking an integrated health response approach that views effective delivery of HIV/AIDS services as an opportunity to forge a stronger overall health care system. The project is integrating services, engaging communities, and strengthening major system components that affect delivery of all services. This approach aims to reduce death and illness caused by HIV/AIDS and leave the national health system better able to meet the priority health needs of all Zambians. The project is implementing technical, program, and management strategies to initiate, improve, and scale-up prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT); counseling and testing (CT); and clinical care services, including ART and male circumcision (MC), for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA). ZPCT II is also working to improve and upgrade physical structures, integrate HIV/AIDS services into other clinical areas, increase workforce capacity, and strengthen key support structures, including laboratory and pharmacy services and data management systems. The project's goal is to graduate districts from intensive technical assistance by the project's end. ZPCT II will continue to implement the quality and performance-based plans to achieve this goal. The project is also working to strengthen the broader health sector by improving and upgrading physical structures, integrating HIV/AIDS services into other clinical areas, increasing workforce capacity, and strengthening key support structures, including laboratory and pharmacy services and data management systems. ZPCT II is supporting the GRZ goals of reducing prevalence rates and providing ART. The project is implementing technical, program, and management strategies to initiate, improve, and scale-up PMTCT; CT; and clinical care services, including ART and MC, for PLHA. The project is also working to improve and upgrade physical structures, integrate HIV/AIDS services into other clinical areas, increase workforce capacity, and strengthen key support structures, including laboratory and pharmacy services and data management systems.