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Thandeka Moyo, Health Reporter
ZIMBABWE is in dire need of $37 million to revive its health sector which has been affected by forex shortages which fuel medicinal stock outs, a United Nations report shows.
According to the Zimbabwe Humanitarian Flash Appeal launched on Thursday, funding is needed to strengthen disease surveillance through training of relevant health staff in all provinces and local authorities for prompt outbreak notification.
The procurement of medicine, which will target 80 percent of the total population in the 80 districts targeted in the prioritisation of needs and amounting to 9,17 million people, will be treated as a priority.
Besides the high HIV prevalence, the country is also working on eradicating outbreaks of preventable diseases like cholera which have claimed lives in the past year.
Zimbabwe recorded the second largest cholera outbreak in its history in 2018 and by early January 2019 more than 10 000 cases including 65 deaths across the country had been reported.
“A total of $37,4 million is needed for the procurement of drugs and outbreak response to resuscitate the country’s health sector. Zimbabwe is also battling disease outbreaks, acute forex shortages in the health sector and stock outs of essential medicines which leaves millions without access to health care,” read the report.
The same report showed that the health budget is chronically underfunded and stocks of essential medicines, diagnostics and supplies have been depleted due to foreign currency shortages.
“Many private pharmaceutical suppliers now only accept United States dollars and have dramatically increased their pricing. As a result, many people are unable to pay for basic health services, including vulnerable people living with chronic conditions such as HIV and refugees.”
The UN said drought-induced migration may further compound the health situation as it could reduce the coverage of key immunisation activities, which increases the risk of additional disease outbreaks.
“This appeal seeks to mobilise the international community to respond to the acute shortage of medicines, diagnostics and consumables in Zimbabwe stemming from the economic crisis.
“Although financial support has been received from various donors, this support has been directed at primary health-care services as well as programmes for specific conditions such as malaria, HIV, TB, family and child health,” read the report.
The UN also said stock management system would be strengthened to ensure that the consumption rates are closely monitored to avoid stock outs.
Additional priorities include supporting laboratory capacity for the National Microbiology Reference Laboratory (NMRL) and provincial and district level laboratories through training of laboratory staff and procurement of relevant equipment. — @thamamoe
Online Reporter