THE GOVERNMENT plans to start manufacturing medicines and medical sundries locally with a plant set to be established in Victoria Falls in a joint venture with an international pharmaceutical company, Intra Pharma of Dubai.
This comes as the Second Republic continues to prioritise
local production of pharmaceuticals and health products to reduce the huge
import bill.
The Second Republic has embarked on a process of
constructing, refurbishing and retooling of hospitals across all levels through
the National Facility Construction Programme that is wholly funded by
Government.
There are also plans to establish a joint venture vaccine
manufacturing plant in Zimbabwe with Bio Farma an Indonesian Pharmaceutical
company as well as build five district hospitals and thirty mini hospitals
across the country, Vice President General (Retired) Dr Constantino Chiwenga
said yesterday.
He was officiating at the Board Induction and Corporate
Governance Training Programme for the Ministry of Health and Child Care Public
Entities as well as professional Associations in Victoria Falls.
The VP said Government wants to accelerate the attainment
of Sustainable Development Goals, the African Agenda 2063, and ensure universal
health coverage.
Using local resources, Government has thus increased
financing of the health sector with 22 percent of the national budget dedicated
to health last year, surpassing the Abuja Declaration which stipulates that 15
percent must be budgeted for health.
The health financing is a major milestone by President
Mnangagwa’s led Government.
Government aspires to realise improved health outcomes for
all including the vulnerable and marginalised, guided by the overall Vision
2030 that seeks to transform Zimbabwe into a Middle Income Society by 2030, and
the National Development Strategy (NDS1) (2021-2025) which identifies health as
central to human happiness and well-being making it an important contributor to
economic progress.
VP Chiwenga who is also Health and Child Care Minister said
guided by NDS1 and in consultation with development partners and the private
sector, Government identified priority outcomes to address health challenges.
He said major reforms are being instituted within the
Health Ministry to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and integrity
of health service.
Chief among the strategies is construction of health
facilities countrywide to improve access to health care and availability of
essential medicines and commodities.
“Government continues to prioritise local production of
pharmaceuticals and other health products to reduce the huge import bill for
these products. Government has entered into a joint venture with Intra Pharma
to manufacture pharmaceutical products for both local and regional market. The
company will be based in Victoria Falls,” said Dr Chiwenga.
He said Victoria Falls is a perfect site as the city was
declared a Special Economic Zone.
Government is also planning to make Victoria Falls its
conference capital with state-of-the-art facilities including a convention
centre, five star hotels and medical facilities which can also drive medical
tourism.
There has been interest from investors from the United Arab
Emirates to partner Government on Victoria Falls projects.
On the tourism front, massive projects are underway with
five star hotels being constructed.
To complete the value chain, Lupane State University plans
to build a tourism school in the resort city with civil works already done,
while massive housing projects are also underway in a Government partnership-
with private sector.
This feeds into operationalisation of Masue City concept,
which is part of Victoria Falls expansion, through the Integrated Development
Programme/Conceptual Development Framework that incorporates the Victoria
Falls-Hwange-Binga SEZ as an integration of economic activities to catapult
growth and improve livelihoods in the province.
On the health front, massive work is underway to construct
hospital facilities countrywide.
Phase 1 of Lupane Provincial Hospital in Matabeleland North
which had stalled for 17 years is now 70 percent complete and its completion is
a priority in line with the National Development Strategy 1 and will bring
relief to Matabeleland North province which has been relying on Bulawayo
hospitals and mission hospitals, said Dr Chiwenga.
About 1 117 health facilities have been solarised, 447 now
with boreholes, and 75 PCR testing equipment decentralised to districts, said
Dr Chiwenga.
He said Government is also making concerted efforts to
turnaround the National Pharmaceutical Company of Zimbabwe (Natpharm) to into
me the preferred supplier of medicines and sundries required in the country’s
health sector.
As a way of improving distribution of essential medicines
and commodities, Government completed construction of Natpharm warehouses on Harare
and Masvingo while work is underway in Mutare.
The Ministry has started applying for land to construct
warehouses in other provinces, said Dr Chiwenga.
He said plans are there to establish innovation hubs for
health research, bioengineering, bio-pharmaceutical and bio-medical sciences in
the country.
“Additionally, plans are in place to establish a joint
venture vaccine manufacturing plant in Zimbabwe with Bio Farma an Indonesian
Pharmaceutical company.
“Government is working on improving the management and
governance of Natpharm which should be the preferred supplier of medicines and
sundries required to service the entire health sector. Government is aware of
challenges and addressing them and management should fix internal governance
hiccups,” said Dr Chiwenga, adding that there is urgent need to put in place
robust systems to curb pilferage and unnecessary loss of medicines and sundries
in all health sector institutions
“We can’t have bulk medicines expiring on us. Let this be a
thing of the past,” he said.
Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs and Devolution
Minister Richard Moyo said establishment of strong institutions, specialised,
well equipped health care facilities that draw from both internal and external
expertise will contribute towards the economic revival of Matabeleland North
province.
The induction and training workshop is for all parastatals
and professional associations falling under the Ministry of Health and will end
of Friday with the aim of improving good corporate governance and performance
of parastatals and all professional councils. Herald
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