Improving access to maternal health for Zimbabwe’s expectant mothers

Many expectant mothers in Harare and Bulawayo are benefiting from the Urban Voucher Programme (UVP), which has been providing free health services since its launch in 2014. The program targets mothers in the bottom 40% of households, increasing their access to health services and assisted births.  

Before the program, most pregnant women could not visit health clinics regularly because they could not afford the $25 registration fee. In 2017, the UVP assisted more than 2,600 women at one clinic in Hopley. At the clinic’s busiest time that year, nurses recalled assisting 18 births a night.

The UVP is buoyed by the success of the Rural Based Financing (RBF) initiative in rural areas—which subsidized health care services to provide a package of free health care for pregnant women and children under five. Through the voucher program, the use of maternal and neonatal family planning services has increased, the supply of quality maternal and neonatal services to low-income urban health districts has been strengthened, and out-of-pocket payments for people living in the poorest urban quintile have been reduced.

The program is funded by the World Bank’s multi-donor Global Financing Facility (GFF), which provides subsidies to selected clinics based on their performance.

Original source: World Bank
Published on 10 January 2019