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NewsDay

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‘Govt stifling health sector fundraising efforts’

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GOVERNMENT has been accused of stifling local initiatives to fundraise for the country’s ailing health sector and instead relying too much on donor funding, which of late has been erratic.

GOVERNMENT has been accused of stifling local initiatives to fundraise for the country’s ailing health sector and instead relying too much on donor funding, which of late has been erratic.

By Phyllis Mbanje

Speaking during the awarding of a beneficial certificate to Mwanza Rural Health Centre in rural Chikwaka, Goromonzi, last week, Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) director, Itai Rusike said funding for the sector was a huge issue, but of more concern was the dependency on external sources.

“Medicines requirement remains one of the most externally dependent programmes, exposing it to arbitrary cuts and funding withdrawals,” he said.

“However, external funding has, somehow, become fungible and has, in most cases, replaced government funding, instead of complementing it.”

Despite signing on to the Abuja Declaration, which stipulates that governments should allocate the health sector at least 15% of the total national budget, Zimbabwe has consistently failed to meet the requirement.

Most public health institutions currently face acute shortages of drugs, forcing them to suspend some surgical services.

“Maternal mortality rates remain a cause for concern and current rates are still high compared to the regional estimates and previous country estimates,” Rusike said.

Meanwhile, expectant mothers from Mwanza have received a shot in the arm following the opening of its waiting mothers’ home, whose construction was supported by CWGH in collaboration with the Zimbabwe National Army.

Francis Nyakani, the nurse-in-charge at Mwanza Rural Health Centre, said some women were still giving birth on their way to the clinic.

The mothers’ waiting home strategy was designed to counter and mitigate these challenges and become an option in safe motherhood.

“So, we are urging pregnant women to come and utilise this mothers’ waiting facility. We will be able to monitor them and pick on any complications,” he said.