This was revealed last Friday in the National Assembly by
Kambuzuma legislator Willias Madzimure (CCC) while contributing to Health
budget debate on the Finance Bill in relation to the 2023 national budget. He
said government was failing to allocate funds and other resources to health
workers, adding that it was also failing to facilitate their training to be
able to operate Class 3 vehicles.
“I have got two
issues. The first one has to do with
motorcycles that were supplied by WHO. It is now four years after these motor
cycles were donated and to date, they are not working. So, we have got 100 motorcycles that are
lying idle that were donated some four years ago. The reason is simple.
“They are saying they do not have money to train health
workers who are supposed to use those motorcycles. If you divide the 100 motorcycles by 10, it
means each province will have 10 motorcycles for the health workers. This will
make a big difference,” Madzimure said.
“In other countries, for those people who are diabetic, HIV
positive, and those with high blood pressure, they are supplied medicines using
motorcycles. We have got 100 motor
cycles lying idle because the staff that are supposed to use them cannot be
trained.”
In response, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube said: “The way
we see it, we feel that the sector in terms of resources that have been
allocated has adequate resources, but the issue is draw-down, and competition
between donors and government funding.
We also need to find a way for the public and private sectors to work
together so that they can improve on access to our public citizens.”
Ncube did not explain what government will do to ensure the
motorcycles are used in the health delivery system. Newsday
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