BY PRIVILEDGE GUMBODETE THE World Health Organisation (WHO) has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthen Zimbabwe’s health delivery system through the Health Labour Market Analysis (HLMA) currently underway.
WHO country representative Alex Gasasira said this during a methodology workshop on HLMA in Harare early this week after government had announced a new policy to address challenges facing the health sector.
“Through the Health Service Board (HSB) and the Ministry of Health and Child Care, the government recently reviewed the national human resources for health (HRH) policy, laying a clear policy direction toward having an adequate, well-trained and motivated health workforce for the attainment of the aspirations of the national health strategy, especially for universal health coverage (UHC) and sustainable development goals,” Gasasira said.
“WHO is closely supporting the government in collaboration with other partners to use the HLMA to generate evidence to inform the development of a new HRH strategy and sustainable investment plan to address some of the longstanding challenges such as the shortage of health workers, unequal distribution, excessive migration and concerns regarding working conditions, among others.”
Speaking at the same event, HSB acting executive director Angelbert Mbengwa said: “The success of this HLMA will provide evidence and insight on the Zimbabwean population health needs, health workforce issues and dynamics of the Health Labour Market in Zimbabwe.”
He added: “The process of conducting a comprehensive HLMA and development of the HRH strategic and investment plan shall be an inclusive process involving development partners and all stakeholders, with WHO providing technical assistance.”
A recent global UHC monitoring report by WHO and the World Bank indicated that Zimbabwe has consistently performed above the African average, with an increasing UHC index from 32% in 2000 to 55% currently. Zimbabwe’s UHC index has remained around 55% since 2015.
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