dyton mupawaenda
Ray Bande in NYANGA
Legislation for the long debated national health insurance scheme to provide accessible and affordable quality health care for all is expected to be tabled in the National Assembly soon, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora said this week.
In an interview on the sidelines of a strategic planning and review workshop in Nyanga, Dr Mombeshora said the health insurance scheme was aimed at ensuring that every Zimbabwean had access to health services at any public clinic or hospital in the country.
“We have already done the ground work and the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion is chairing the committee to come up with ways to get the funding for this National Health Insurance.
“National Health Insurance is supposed to ensure that every Zimbabwean can access health services at any public health institution in the country. We know that some individuals have cash and can afford private health services, but that should be optional.
“Government must ensure that health services are accessible to every citizen. We hope that by the end of this year, I would have tabled the Bill before Parliament,” he said.
“Ideally, the National Health Insurance scheme seeks to ensure that health services are accessible to all citizens, pursuant to Section 76 of the Constitution, which stipulates that ‘every citizen and permanent resident of Zimbabwe has the right to have access to basic healthcare services’.”
Statistics by the Global Press Journal indicate that only 10 percent of Zimbabweans are on medical aid, leaving the 90 percent without any medical cover exposed to “out of pocket expenditure” payments for health. The Health and Child Care Minister said Government is also at an advanced stage in putting in place the Health Services Commission.
“We are also putting in place the Health Services Commission. On Friday, the President approved names for the Health Services Commission. The work of the commission will be primarily to focus on the welfare of the health services workers. I know the commission will come up with other measures to retain our staff in the health sector,” he said.
To ensure universal access to health, the Ministry of Health and Child Care also developed the national health strategy, which outlines the roadmap towards turning around and restoring stability in the country’s health system.
The strategy speaks to 10 strategic focus areas in line with NDS1 to address gaps within the health system.
Some of the strategic focus areas include increasing domestic funding for health, to meet the provisions of the Abuja Declaration, which state that 15 percent of the national budget must be allocated to the health sector.
The focus areas also include improving the health sector human resources performance. In addition, the ministry also expressed its commitment to advancing the availability of essential medicines and enhancing health infrastructure and medical equipment for better health service delivery. The strategic planning and review workshop in Nyanga brought together those in the national health agenda: implementers, policy makers, funders, regulators among other key stakeholders.
Online Reporter