Online Reporter
Muchaneta Chimuka
MORE than 700 students have graduated from the Harare Institute of Public Health (HIPH), including 15 from Botswana’s Botlhale Institute of Public Health, after completing various health-related programmes.
The graduates completed courses in fields such as Health Care Assistance, Pharmacy Assistance and Biomedical Engineering, public health, pharmaceutical sciences, and health technology, among others.
Speaking during the 5th Graduation of the Harare Institute of Public Health graduation ceremony held in the capital, Secretary for Institutions, Engineer Tafadzwa Mudondo, who represented the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, Ambassador Frederick Shava, urged the graduates to embrace innovation and entrepreneurship.
He said HIPH is fulfilling the Constitutional right to health since its trainings have special focus on public health issues.
“The Constitution of Zimbabwe guarantees every citizen the right to access basic healthcare services; therefore, the obligation is upon us as a nation to ensure that our health system is adequately resourced, efficiently managed, and staffed by competent, ethical, and compassionate professionals,” he said.
Ambassador Shava cited the three pillars of education, which include the development of competent human capital, advancement in public health and disease prevention – communicable and non–communicable diseases- and the integration of indigenous knowledge systems into health practice in line with the Heritage-Based Education 5.0 framework.
“His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa, has consistently affirmed that health is a cornerstone of national development,” he said.
“A healthy nation is a productive nation. A productive nation is a prosperous nation. Your work as pharmaceutical technicians, public health practitioners, and health professionals will directly support the attainment of Vision 2030—an empowered and prosperous upper-middle-income society.”
He applauded the HIPH for its training that aligns with Zimbabwe’s Heritage-Based Education 5.0 policy—a philosophy that calls on people to remember the past, celebrate the present, and envision a bright future.
“This policy represents a paradigm shift from education as mere knowledge accumulation to education as a catalyst for innovation, industrialisation, and national development. It recognises that education must radically transform from curriculum to pedagogy, from teacher to learner, from learning to competency-based assessment.”
“Health education must answer this call. Your training has equipped you to bridge theory and practice, to move from knowledge to action, and to serve communities with tangible, measurable impact. Through this graduation ceremony, we witness the realisation of key National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2) policy targets,” he added.
Chairperson of the Harare Institute of Public Health, Professor Simon Mukwembi, said this graduation is an affirmation of the important role that specialised health education plays in developing Zimbabwe’s human capital, thereby strengthening the national healthcare system.
“Over the past five graduation cycles, the institute has produced an estimated 2 300 graduates across its Schools of Public Health, Pharmacy, Nursing, Health Technology and Business and Healthcare Management,” he said.
“Approximately 68 percent of these graduates are now serving in hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, laboratories, non-governmental organizations, community health programmes and healthcare administration establishments across Zimbabwe and the region.”
