By Staff Reporter
The Ministry of Health and Child Care has admitted that despite progress in supplying medicines and medical equipment to major hospitals, rural clinics and referral hospitals continue to face critical shortages due to inadequate funding.
Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr Sleiman Kwidini told Parliament that the government’s efforts to ensure countrywide access to essential drugs remain constrained by financial challenges.
“While our last-mile delivery system is reaching rural clinics, the drugs supplied are often insufficient because of limited funds. We are urging early disbursement of funds from the Ministry of Finance to allow us to purchase enough drugs at once,” said Kwidini.
He appealed to legislators to support increased health allocations in the upcoming national budget warning that service delivery across ministries continues to suffer from delayed funding.
Responding to a follow-up question from Nyanga South legislator Supa Mandiwanzira on whether government still intends to buy drugs directly from manufacturers to avoid inflated costs by middlemen, Kwidini confirmed that the plan was still on the table but hampered by bureaucratic procurement processes.
“Some manufacturers are reluctant to participate because local procurement requirements are complex and often incompatible with international bidding standards. We are working to streamline the process so that we can buy directly and reduce costs,” he said.
Chikanga legislator Lynette Karenyi-Kore raised concern over pregnant women being asked to buy drugs for Caesarean sections despite maternity care being declared free.
In response, Kwidini said the practice was restricted by severe underfunding.
“C-sections and maternity services are supposed to be free. However, because of limited resources, hospitals sometimes ask patients to buy drugs to save lives during emergencies,” he said.
The Deputy Minister revealed that of the ZWL$3.6 billion budgeted for curative medical supplies this year, only ZWL$1.7 billion had been disbursed so far less than half the amount needed to maintain consistent drug availability.
He added that hospitals would soon standardise consultation fees at US$5, or the equivalent in ZiG as part of cost-recovery measures.
“Our aim is to ensure every patient receives care, but no service is entirely free. We continue to push for more funding so that no one is turned away without treatment,” Kwidini said.
