Health funders and other key role players have been called upon to upscale and polish up their act in line with Government’s health development thrust in order to expedite the attainment of national goals.
The call was made by Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Constantino Chiwenga when he spoke at the 2023 Association of HealthCare Funders of Zimbabwe (AHFoZ) annual all stakeholders’ hybrid conference on health in a speech read on his behalf by Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Professor Amon Murwira.
VP Chiwenga, through Minister Murwira, told delegates that Government is seized with driving the health services towards universal health coverage consistent with an empowered upper-middle income economy.
However, he said, Government will not do this alone as other players must play their roles.
He said it was disheartening to note that some funders were taking people’s money in the name of medical aid only to then fail to provide service when need arose.
“We urge the Association of Health Funders of Zimbabwe and all its members to provide efficient service delivery and not just take people’s money with no services being provided,” said VP Chiwenga through Minister Murwira.
“Surely, it is not only unfair but criminal to take subscriptions when you know well that you are unable to provide the services for which you will have been paid for.
“Patients are crying foul about shortfalls on almost every transaction. This is an area that requires immediate attention.
Let me also appeal to the employer organizations to play their part in ensuring that the systems work efficiently by paying their contributions on time,” said the Vice President.
He said Government is implementing strategies to reduce health worker attrition, and health worker training has been scaled up by increasing the number of training schools, and also the intake of trainees.
Primary Care Nurse (PCN) training was re-introduced in September 2021 after being phased out.
VP Chiwenga said the meeting presents an opportunity to share experiences and deliver healthcare services to the people of Zimbabwe.
He said Government is committed to achieving universal health coverage and improving the quality of life by the year 2030 and beyond.
VP Chiwenga said conferences like AFHoZ are platforms, which bring together stakeholders in the healthcare sector to meet and discuss issues of mutual interest in the country’s healthcare system.
“As Government, we take input from your resolutions seriously as part of our input for health policy formulation and feed into the broad objectives towards attaining an Empowered and Prosperous Upper Middle Income Economy by 2030.
“We appreciate the complementary initiatives by the private sector,” said VP Chiwenga through Minister Murwira.
Herald
Positive Eye News
