THE National Aids Council (NAC) says it is lobbying the government to start taxing players in the informal sector to broaden the revenue base for the Aids Levy.
BY MUNESU NYAKUDYA
NAC national advocacy co-ordinator Trust Govera told journalists in Harare on Wednesday that the Aids Levy’s revenue base was rapidly shrinking due to the collapse of the formal economy, hence, the need to turn to the informal sector for funding.
“We should be able to fund 30% of all interventions by 2030 so that we will not face serious financial challenges when donors quit or withdraw their funding,” he said.
“Right now, the Aids Levy is funding approximately 24% of the antiretrovirals; the other part is taken care of by the Global Fund and other partners, which is a very risky situation.
“We have a lot of strategies in place, but I know it will be difficult for policymakers to say we want to increase the percentage of the tax, it won’t sail easily.”
Govera said the government was in the process of regularising the informal sector.
“The mining sector at some point was not contributing towards the Aids Levy, but through various engagements, they are now contributing. We intend to increase domestic financing of HIV/Aids to 30% by 2018.
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“Zimbabwe has its own domestic funding, which is the Aids Levy which is a good practice which other countries are considering to adopt, but we still have external funding from the Global Fund and other partners.”
He said Aids Levy revenue had steadily increased from 5% collected in 2009 to 30% last year.
