Crown Agents has joined forces with the Zimbabwean Ministry of Health and Child Welfare Environment Department to launch a European Union-funded training initiative aimed at retaining vital environmental health workers.
The health sector has lost the majority of its health personnel due to the economic hardship in Zimbabwe and 80% of these workers are environmental health officers. Environmental health workers help to reduce the incidence of diseases like cholera through health inspections and campaigns about the importance of healthy eating and hygiene.
The European Union has provided €1 million for a three year-long sandwich course during which trainees will spend two years at college and a year at the Ministry of Health as interns.
Some 510 trainees are currently enrolled on the training course at nine polytechnic colleges across the country.
Crown Agents' three-strong team is providing a range of services from ensuring tutors receive regular payments and trainees pay their fees on time to procuring teaching equipment and motor vehicles for Ministry of Health coordinators.
Last year, we supported the DFID-funded Human Resources Retention Scheme, which provided incentive payments to health workers paid in US dollars.
In the first phase, a UNICEF survey reported an immediate increase in staff attendance of 20-30% and this latest training initiative builds on its success.
