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Mukudzei Chingwere
Herald Reporter
Zimbabwe is augmenting the major infrastructure developments of more hospitals and clinics with automation of the services, as part of Government’s efforts to achieve best international practices.
Health and Child Care Minister, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, said at yesterday’s delayed virtual World Health Day commemorations that his ministry embarked on a robust health infrastructure development programme aimed at improving the density of health care facilities, particularly in outlying areas.
Ordinarily, World Health Day is commemorated on April 7.
This year’s commemorations are running under the theme, “Building a fairer, healthier world”, which dovetails with Zimbabwe’s vision of a universal health coverage.
“The programme seeks to establish more health posts, health care centres, district and provincial hospitals up to quaternary and quinary level hospitals,” said VP Chiwenga.
“Twinned with the health infrastructure development programme is also the digitalisation of the health care system. The automation of health care services will help to create electronic data-bases, enhance accessibility by the generality of our Zimbabweans and improve efficiency in the sector.”
A nation was safe when it considers itself to be free from external or internal aggression, and when its citizens considered themselves to be free from poverty, famine, disease or repression, said VP Chiwenga.
He said citizens should enjoy basic rights such as decent shelter, food security, and access to clean water, jobs and adequate health services.
“In the interest of public health, the Government of Zimbabwe is leaving no stone unturned to improve the socio-economic livelihoods of citizens,” said VP Chiwenga. “Ample testimony of this determination is espoused in the Government’s vision of achieving an upper middle-income status by 2030.”
Regarding the country’s response to Covid-19, VP Chiwenga said the Government was ensuring equitable vaccine distribution without regard to class or political affiliation. Access to health care should not be a luxury reserved for the elite, evidenced by the huge investments being made to improve health facilities even in remote areas, he said.
“I also want to take this opportunity to urge the generality of Zimbabweans to desist from vaccine hesitancy and do the right thing, till the nation achieves herd immunity,” said VP Chiwenga.
He urged citizens not to just focus on preventing the spread of Covid-19, but continue to keep an eye on other diseases such as cholera and typhoid.
During the commemorations, World Health Organisation country representative Dr Alex Gasasira said the increased budgetary allocation to the health sector, as well as the strong commitment to health and well-being in the National Development Strategy 2021- 2025, were steps in the right direction.
Important lessons had been learnt from Zimbabwe’s “whole-of-Government, whole-of-society national response to Covid-19 pandemic.
“Comprehensive prevention and control measures, including roll out of Covid-19 vaccination, have reached all parts of the country, including the most vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities,” said Dr Gasasira.
“We look forward to these lessons being applied to ongoing efforts to accelerate progress towards achieving universal health coverage in Zimbabwe.”
Online Reporter