Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
VICE-PRESIDENT Constantino Chiwenga has said the nation has invested a lot of resources in training healthcare professionals and expects a return through increased capacity in service provision.
Officially opening the 2nd Pharmacists Council of Zimbabwe (PCZ) national conference in Victoria Falls yesterday, the VP who is also Health and Child Care Minister said the Second Republic is committed to the revival of the pharmaceutical sector to improve the health sector.
He commended the PCZ for partnering and supporting Government in addressing the country’s health needs, but hastened to challenge all health practitioners to be involved in implementation of the National Health Strategy (2021-2025) in line with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
“The Second Republic through the Ministry of Health is committed to ensure the pharmaceutical sector is revived and capacitated so that the local manufacturing industry reaches 80 percent of medicines locally manufactured.
“Currently the country is losing the much-needed foreign currency in importing medicines and medical devices which can be locally manufactured. By and large, the Government aims at advancement in drug discovery, formulation, compounding delivery systems, translating innovations into better outcomes and collaborating practice research and educational models among healthcare professionals and enhance training and leadership development of the current generation of practitioners,” said the VP.
He said the ministry is in the process of gazetting all outstanding amendments to the Health Regulations Act.
This, he said, follows concerns by the PCZ that some laws in the sector were restrictive and outdated.
“The restructuring that was done by the ministry will see all these expeditiously gazetted as there is now a directorate in place that is responsible for smooth operations of the regulatory councils. That department was not in existence and it is now there and will solely stand for adjusting and amending regulations for all our health councils,” he said.
VP Chiwenga said four major health sector bills, the Health Services Bill, Medical Aid Regulatory Bill, Medical Service Bill and the National Health Insurance Bill being done jointly with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development are being aligned to the Constitution.
“These are meant to empower you and improve the health delivery system in the country so that when we are number one in education, when we are the fastest growing economy in Southern Africa and on the African continent, we must be number one in everything that we touch and that we do. We will work together to develop this area and to be self-sufficient when it comes to the provision of pharmaceutical area,” he said.
The PCZ conference is being attended by pharmacists, optometrists and audiologists from around the country. — @ncubeleon
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