GOVERNMENT should consider channelling part of proceeds from alcohol and cigarette taxes to fund the health sector, a health expert has said.
Feluna Nleya
Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) executive director Itai Rusike said there was need for the country to come up with other ways to raise money to improve the health sector as many people were dying due to lack of money for treatment.
“Health is an inalienable human right. It is a right that carries national and international duties to provide access to health services for all human beings, regardless of the ability to pay and must be free from discrimination,” Rusike said.
“The right to health requires that people are placed at the centre of the health systems and have a right to participate in decisions that affect their health, it requires that special attention be paid to marginalised and vulnerable populations.”
He said financing initiatives such as the Aids Levy Fund, The Health Transition Fund (HTF) and Results-Based Financing (RBF) had complemented resources.
But these were insufficient, he said, to meet the costs for the health services for the Millennium Development Goals or the wider set of health needs including rising levels of non-communicable diseases.
“Consumption taxes such as on alcohol and cigarettes are a feasible option, taxes on high sugar and high salt foods may also need to be explored,” Rusike said.
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“VAT is a potential source of domestic funding for health as it is an existing tax, the collection mechanisms are relatively good and the largest tax base in Zimbabwe.”
He said Zimbabweans had resorted to investing in funeral policies instead of taking measures to invest in the health.
“It is very disheartening to note that more and more Zimbabweans continue to save for their death though investing in funeral insurance instead of health through health insurance,” Rusike said.
“The Community Share Ownership Scheme can also be another innovative way to fund our health delivery system by supporting Community Health Workers and community health programmes, thereby bringing in more community participation and community ownership that is even more sustainable as this is a local resource that communities would want to protect and preserve for future generations.”
