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Mukudzei Chingwere in ROME, Italy
ZIMBABWE will this week participate at the fourth Global Mental Health Summit in Rome with Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care Dr John Mangwiro leading the country’s delegation.
Dr Mangwiro will stand in for Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga, who is also Minister of Health and Child Care at the summit which comes as President Mnangagwa has set the target of improving the quality of the country’s health delivery to levels expected in an upper middle income economy.
Th summit seeks to tap Italy’s global pace setting in the areas of community mental health and will also seek to strengthen work at previous summits held in London, Amsterdam and Paris.
In collaboration with the World Health Organisation, summit organisers are targeting governments and private sector participation in improving mental health awareness in general as well as combating problems associated with mental health challenges.
Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Italy, Mietani Chauke, said the participation of VP Chiwenga, through Deputy Minister Mangwiro, showed the importance which the Second Republic was attaching to health services.
She also noted that despite other challenges that Zimbabwe was facing, the country had not been deterred in its quest to improve health services.
“Health is an important aspect in the society of Zimbabwe and the Government is doing everything it can to solve the problems,” said Ambassador Chauke.
In addition to the summit, the Zimbabwe delegation will have its plate full on this visit to Rome with a number of meetings on economic opportunities already lined up.
Despite the continued existence of economic sanctions against Zimbabwe by Western countries, Zimbabwe has adopted a non-reciprocal stance with its diplomatic engagements being guided by the quest to be “a friend to all and an enemy to none”.
Italy has a large market for horticulture and is also a huge tourist source market and these are some of the opportunities that the Zimbabwe delegation will be looking out for.
“The delegation’s presence here opens doors for the country. It helps us as an embassy because it is at a very high level,” said Ambassador Chauke.
Online Reporter