Online Reporter
The health sector continues to record positives as a result of the ongoing Government programme to transform and modernise the sector.
The Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Douglas Mombeshora said last Wednesday that the country’s maternal mortality ratio declined sharply as a result of improved healthcare across the country.
He said the latest national statistics show that the mortality ratio dropped from 212 to 137 deaths per 100 000 live births and he attributed this to wide ranging reforms being implemented by the
Government as it works to transform and modernise the health sector.
Dr Mombeshora said universal access to quality healthcare and strengthened maternal and child health services were among the country’s key development priorities.
He said Government was investing a lot of resources at health facilities across the country to improve healthcare services hence the reduced maternal deaths being recorded.
Health workers have also started to enjoy the benefits of the transformed and modernised health sector.
Last May, President Mnangagwa commissioned the refurbished Adlam House and trainee nurses block at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in Harare.
The refurbishment of the commissioned facilities is part of the ongoing renovations underway at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, Sally Mugabe Central Hospital and Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo.
The health facilities are being upgraded under the Presidential Hospital Rennovation Programme to meet world class standards.
The programme involves not just upgrading of infrastructure but also equipping health facilities as well as improving supply of consumables such as drugs to ensure citizens across the country receive quality health care.
Government is also increasing resources allocated to the health sector in line with the Abuja Declaration.
The Abuja target is for countries to allocate 15 percent of their annual budgets to the health sector.
Government increased its allocation to the health sector from 9,8 percent of the national budget in 2024 to 13,01 percent in 2025.
President Mnangagwa said the ongoing renovations which are set to reach every hospital across the country, dovetail with the broader goal under vision 2030, an economy anchored on a healthy, productive and empowered population.
He said Government was strengthening specialised care and emergency response systems by acquiring and installing modern and digitally enabled medical equipment at its health facilities across the country.
The President emphasised the importance of training saying human capital remains at the centre of national social-economic progress.
“No health system can function without skilled, disciplined and committed professionals,” said President Mnangagwa.
In support of the Government’s programme to transform and modernise the health sector, the European union (EU) last year availed a 4,2 million Euro funding package for the health sector.
The funding is meant to support the establishment of the National Public Health Institute (NPHI), a key step toward building a resilient, co-ordinated and responsive national health system.
The EU investment will facilitate the development and operationalisation of the institute which will enhance disease surveillance, improve research, upgrade laboratory systems and bolster rapid response to emergencies.
Dr Mombeshora said the EU funding came at the most opportune time when Government had started work to revamp its health care system.
He said the NPHI will serve as a central hub for evidence-based decision-making and health intelligence.
