Chronicle Editor
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
THE proposal for a National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme meant to provide free basic healthcare services to 90 percent of the Zimbabwean population that is not insured is gathering pace with a Bill set to be tabled before Parliament in July.
The Bill comes after the Ministry of Health and Child Care did consultations with various stakeholders over the proposal that is meant to enhance access to healthcare in the country where only seven percent of the population is insured.
The NHI has been on the cards for 25 years and countries like South Africa have already implemented it.
Acting director of Policy and Planning in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Mr Tonderai Kadzere gave an insight into the NHI system and how they were going to pool funds together to provide affordable, quality, and basic healthcare services to the population according to their various needs based on the principle of solidarity.
“We started the journey of having the National Health Insurance scheme in place 25 years ago but we are quite confident that this time we will have it. We have a lot of push factors in terms of health system constraints, at the same time we used to talk about Universal Health Coverage by 2023, now is the time because in terms of our strategic planning, this is our last lap into 2030. In our planning we talk of an accelerated Vision 2028, we are compelled to ensure our citizenry has access to affordable care,” said Mr Kadzere.
He said evidence gathered from Access to Health Care Studies points to the majority of the population having access issues.
“If you look at people who are covered by health insurance, we are talking about around seven percent of the population in Zimbabwe and it means that we still have some challenges. The strategies that have been put in place to cushion vulnerable groups such as the over 65 years, children under five, maternity, and disabled to name a few are that they must not pay for services. These have been in place but if you ask our service providers we have challenges because they have not been fully funded. As healthcare providers we need to understand that nothing is for free, it is paid for so when we say something is free we must remember at the back of our minds that someone is supposed to pay for it,” said Mr Kadzere.
The draft NHI Bill is set to be presented by the Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr Douglas Mombeshora, in Parliament in July following the directive of the President during the State of the Nation address to have it in place.
Mr Kadzere said the consultations were being done for frank discussions on what needed to be adjusted.
“We looked at where the money to fund this is going to come from, who are going to be members, what services are going to be offered, who will participate, how it is going to be governed, and so on. Zimbabwe also joins other nations in achieving universal health coverage where everyone has access to immediate quality healthcare services without being exposed to the financial hardship that is the idea. We want to make sure services are available and people must not pay for them and they should be of high quality,” said Mr Kadzere.
He said the current insurance framework is private and is catering for those who are employed and there is a gap between those who cannot pay for health insurance and those who can.
Mr Kadzere said that there must be a basic package of services offered to the people through the NHI and the public must not part with huge sums of money to get it.
“These are the aspirations we have, that it is provided for the people at no cost,” he said.
According to the Ministry of Health and Child Care, people are visiting hospitals in the country largely for HIV treatment, acute respiratory infections, maternity services, hypertension, and injuries.
Some of the principles of the NHI include equity in the access to healthcare services, gender equality, affordability of primary and secondary healthcare services, value for money, appropriateness of services provided, transparency, and accountability.
Bongani Ndlovu