Online Reporter
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Senior Health Reporter
IF you are going to drink that extra beer, eat a pizza, or go aviator betting (chindege), at least your guilt is now funding a hospital down the road.
“Sin taxes”, introduced by Government in 2024, are now bearing fruit.
The money from any vice of choice is now buying life-saving equipment, stocking up on medicines and expanding rehabilitation services across the country.
In other words, go ahead and buy that fizzy drink. Just know that your wallet’s pain is someone else’s gain — and possibly their second chance at life.
In 2024, when Zimbabwe introduced a raft of levies on products such as cigarettes, alcohol, sweetened beverages, fast foods and gambling activities, the objective was to discourage unhealthy consumption while generating resources to support national development.
Few could have imagined then that some of the revenue collected from those taxes would one day be used to save lives and strengthen Zimbabwe’s healthcare system.
Today, that vision is steadily becoming a reality.
The strategy reflects the Second Republic’s commitment to innovative domestic resource mobilisation while advancing key priorities under the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), which identifies quality healthcare as a cornerstone for achieving Vision 2030 and transforming Zimbabwe into an upper-middle-income economy.
At the centre of these efforts is the sugar tax, introduced in 2024 on sweetened beverages as part of Government’s strategy to combat the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.
The tax was also designed to create a sustainable source of funding for health services, ensuring that resources generated from products linked to disease are reinvested into preventing and treating illness.
At Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in Harare and Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo, technicians are putting the final touches on the installation of advanced radiotherapy equipment funded through proceeds from the sugar tax.
Additional cancer treatment and diagnostic equipment also arrived in the country this week, signalling a major step forward in the modernisation of Zimbabwe’s cancer care services.
The investment is expected to transform cancer care in the country, where demand for diagnosis and treatment services has continued to rise.
Cancer remains a growing public health concern, with the National Cancer Registry recording more than 7 000 new cases annually.
The arrival of new radiotherapy and diagnostic machines is, therefore, being welcomed as a major step towards improving access to timely cancer care.
The Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, Professor Mthuli Ncube, this week said the procurement of equipment demonstrates that resources collected through the sugar tax are being used for their intended purpose.
“I’m pleased to see this progress that the tax on beverages, sugar content in beverages, is being put to good use as intended. This radiotherapy machine has been delivered, it is being installed and will begin operations in the next couple of weeks, according to the technicians. So I’m very pleased with this progress,” he said.
Prof Ncube said the tax would continue to provide a reliable stream of funding for healthcare investments.
“This tax is not a once-off tax, so every year, every month, we’re raising some resources and they go towards further procurement, but also procurements of drugs and other material that is required to make this work,” he said.
The Minister said additional specialised equipment was expected to arrive for all hospitals as the Government accelerates efforts to modernise cancer treatment services.
“More advanced machines are arriving this week, additional machines split between Parirenyatwa and Mpilo hospitals, our key referral hospitals. We will procure as much as possible. Our view is that in the next two years, there has to be a complete change, transformation,” Prof Ncube added.
He said cancer care had become a priority area for resources generated through the sugar tax, with the proceeds already ring-fenced for health spending.
“Sugar tax is already ring-fenced. That’s what we are using to buy these machines. Frankly, we are making sure that it just supports the health sector. Cancer has been our first port of call,” Prof Ncube said.
The benefits of Zimbabwe’s health taxes extend beyond cancer care.
Government is also using revenue from airtime and data levies to support an internal health fund.
Taxes on gambling activities are being directed towards addressing drug and substance abuse through the development of rehabilitation centres.
Drug and substance abuse has become a pervasive challenge in Zimbabwe and across the African continent.
At least 80 percent of patients admitted to mental health institutions are a result of drug and substance misuse.
“We also have other taxes which have been targeted at the health sector, such as the airtime levy, for example. We actually have an internal government health fund that supports the health sector with resources coming from the airtime levy and data usage levy. Also, you are aware of the gambling tax, for which we’re targeting a different sort of health challenge, which is the drug and substance abuse challenge,” Prof Ncube said.
The strategy reflects a growing shift towards ensuring that taxes collected from products and activities associated with health risks are reinvested into protecting and improving public health.
For Zimbabweans seeking treatment, the impact is becoming increasingly visible, whether through better-equipped hospitals, improved access to medicines or expanded services for vulnerable groups.
As new machines begin operating and more investments come on stream, the country’s sin taxes are proving that revenue collected from unhealthy habits can be transformed into healthier lives and a stronger healthcare system.
