BY PHYLLIS MBANJE
FINANCE minister Mthuli Ncube has been urged to allocate at least 15% of the 2021 national budget to the Health ministry to ensure increased per capita health allowances of US$34 to cover basic health packages for the treatment of malaria, tuberculosis and HIV and Aids.
The call was made yesterday by the Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) which wants an improvement in Zimbabwe’s per capita allocations towards health which were a measly US$21 in the 2020 budget.
The US$21 per capita health allocation is far below the World Health Organisation-recommended threshold of US$86.
“The commitment made at Abuja or allocating 15% of government budget (excluding external partner funding) to the health sector should as a matter of principle be implemented,” CWGH executive director Itai Rusike said in his 2021 pre-budget position paper.
“Stakeholders have also called for increased per capita allocation to at least US$34 per person to cover the basic package including malaria, TB and HIV,” he said.
Rusike said government should draw critical lessons from the current COVID-19 response and reinforce preventive services and interventions in the 2021 budget proposal.
He said while there had been notable achievements in reduction of overall disease burdens for the past two decades – natural disasters such as Cyclone Idai and droughts and health emergencies such typhoid and COVID-19 continued to plaque the country.
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“There is a need to continue prioritising and strengthening preventive services/interventions,” Rusike said.
Over the years Zimbabwe has been struggling to achief the Abuja Declaration of 15% allocation to health in the national budget. According to Unicef the 2020 health budget fell short of the 15% Abuja Declaration target, although there was a slight improvement from 7% in 2019 to 10% in 2020 more needs to be done.
