Online Reporter
Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
Health and Child Care Minister Douglas Mombeshora has challenged the health sector to embrace innovation that improves access to affordable and quality healthcare, particularly for rural and underserved communities.
He said innovation should not be restricted to technology and software but should focus on practical solutions that improve healthcare outcomes.
Minister Mombeshora said this in a speech read on his behalf by the Ministry’s Chief Director of Public Health, Dr Celestino Dhege, at the third edition of the Cimas Healthathon held in Harare on Friday.
“It is about finding new and better ways of doing things. It can be a new way of financing healthcare so that more families are protected from financial hardship,” he said.
“It can be a smarter referral pathway that saves their life. It can be a locally manufactured diagnostic tool or medicine.”
Minister Mombeshora said digital tools were important enablers, but should not be viewed as an end in themselves.
“The real measure of innovation lies in the outcomes we deliver to our people, to our population,” he said.
He challenged innovators to develop solutions that reduce the cost of healthcare, help health workers perform their duties more effectively and extend quality healthcare to communities that have previously been left behind.
The minister said access and equity should remain at the centre of efforts to modernise the country’s health system.
“Too many Zimbabweans, particularly those in rural and underserved communities, still travel long distances and face significant costs to access quality healthcare,” he said.
“As we celebrate innovation today, I urge our innovators to design for the many, not the few.”
He said innovations should be affordable, scalable, sustainable and relevant to Zimbabwe’s circumstances, while ensuring that the elderly, persons with disabilities, rural communities and low-income households were not excluded.
Minister Mombeshora also called for greater private sector participation in the health sector, saying Government could not transform healthcare on its own.
“Government says it provides public health leadership and regulates the sector. But Government cannot and should not work alone.
“We need the private sector to invest, to build and to participate more boldly. We need your capital, expertise, infrastructure, technology and capacity to test, refine and scale solutions.”
He said Cimas Health Group, which was established in 1945, was an example of sustained private sector participation in Zimbabwe’s health and wellness sector.
The minister also called for an end to disputes between healthcare providers and medical aid societies and said patients were often caught in the middle of disagreements over tariffs, co-payments and delayed settlements.
“For too long, that relationship has been strained by disputes over tariffs, co-payments and delayed settlements,” he said.
“When providers and funders are at odds, it is not only who suffers most, it is the patient who is caught in the middle, and ultimately asked to pay the difference.”
He urged doctors and medical aid societies to rebuild trust, agree on fair and sustainable tariffs and ensure that settlements were made promptly and transparently.
Minister Mombeshora said Government was also working towards the establishment of National Health Insurance for Zimbabwe as part of efforts to achieve universal health coverage.
“Our vision is a health system in which every citizen is protected against financial hardship of illness and in which access to quality healthcare does not depend on the size of one’s pocket,” he said.
He invited healthcare funders, providers, actuaries, technologists, academics and innovators to contribute ideas and expertise towards the development of the national health insurance scheme.
Cimas Health Group chief executive officer Mr Vulindlela Ndlovu said the sharp increase in submissions to the Healthathon demonstrated the depth of innovation and talent in Zimbabwe.
He said submissions has grown from six when the initiative started to almost 400 this year.
“As Healthathon began, four or five years ago, we received just six submissions. They have increased over the years. I think the subsequent year there were 21. And this year, we received almost 400,” he said.
Mr Ndlovu said the figures represented young Zimbabweans who were choosing to develop solutions to challenges instead of merely discussing them.
“They represent young people who looked at a problem and decided not to walk away or to walk past it. They represent innovators who chose to spend their evenings and weekends building solutions instead of simply talking about challenges,” he said.
He said Zimbabwe has no shortage of talent, creativity or ingenuity but needed platforms to bring that talent to the fore.
Mr Ndlovu said the ideas submitted this year came from different parts of the country, demonstrating that innovation was not confined to Harare, universities or established organisations.
“Innovation has got no address. A great idea can come from anywhere,” he said.
However, Mr Ndlovu said the Healthathon should not simply celebrate ideas, but should help innovators turn them into practical solutions.
“Ideas are important, but ideas alone do not change lives. What changes lives is when an idea becomes a solution.
“When a solution becomes a product. When a product reaches a patient,” he said.
He said the future of the Healthathon should focus on creating a pathway that takes promising ideas from concept to incubation, piloting and eventually large-scale implementation.
Mr Ndlovu said collaboration between Government, the private sector, universities, healthcare professionals and innovators was critical in addressing the country’s healthcare challenges.
“Healthcare challenges are too complex for an institution to solve alone; they require collaboration,” he said.
Mr Ndlovu said all stakeholders should work towards a common goal of improving the quality of healthcare and ensuring better health outcomes for Zimbabweans.
