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

President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). ZPCT II works with the Ministry of Health (MOH), provincial medical offices (PMOs), and district medical offices (DMOs) to strengthen and expand HIV/AIDS clinical and prevention services in six provinces: Central, Copperbelt, Luapula, Northern, North Western, and Muchinga. The project aims to reduce prevalence rates and provide antiretroviral therapy (ART) in line with the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) goals. ZPCT II implements 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). The project takes an integrated health response approach, viewing effective delivery of HIV/AIDS services as an opportunity to forge a stronger overall health care system. Integrating services, engaging communities, and strengthening major system components that affect delivery of all services are the foundation of ZPCT II's approach. During the quarter, ZPCT II continued providing support to selected districts in Central, Copperbelt, Luapula, Northern, North Western, and Muchinga Provinces. The project is consolidating and integrating services in facilities and communities to ensure seamless delivery of a comprehensive package reaching the household level, regardless of location. ZPCT II is also working to increase the MOH's 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 PMOs and DMOs, build and manage public-private partnerships, and integrate service delivery and other activities at the national, provincial, district, facility, and community levels. ZPCT II continues 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's goal is not only to reduce death and illness caused by HIV/AIDS but also to leave the national health system better able to meet the priority health needs of all Zambians. The project's implementation of quality and performance-based plans aims to graduate districts from intensive technical assistance by the project's end.