Online Reporter
President Mnangagwa has directed the Ministry of Health and Child Care to remove all bureaucratic obstacles in the importation and procurement of medical care facilities and services.
The move is meant to complement the ongoing Government programme to transform and modernise the health sector. The streamlining of acquisition of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals will enable health institutions across the country to provide quality health care.
“The Ministry of Health and Child Care, together with related Agencies, are strictly directed to remove all barriers to entry in the establishment of specialist health care facilities and services,” said President Mnangagwa.
He said Government’s goal is to build a resilient, world-class public health system that provides high-quality and affordable health care to every citizen. President Mnangagwa said the ongoing upgrading of health facilities across the country, was a confirmation that the Second Republic was delivering on its promise.
Government announced recently that Zimbabwe’s maternal mortality ratio declined sharply as a result of improved healthcare across the country.
According to the latest national statistics, the mortality ratio dropped from 212 to 137 deaths per 100 000 live births and this is attributed to wide ranging reforms being implemented by the Government as it works to transform and modernise the health sector.
Government has said universal access to quality healthcare and strengthened maternal and child health services are among the country’s key development priorities.
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. Now that President Mnangagwa has directed the Ministry of Health and Child Care to remove all the bottlenecks which in the past were delaying the procurement of equipment and pharmaceuticals, there is no excuse for failing to equip our health facilities or to provide adequate consumables such as drugs.
President Mnangagwa has 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 also 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.
It is therefore imperative for health sector authorities to ensure that we have at our health institutions, nurses and doctors whose conduct is guided by the Nightingale Pledge and the Hippocratic Oath respectively.
