ECONOMIST and policy expert Prosper Chitambara says a majority of Zimbabweans have no medical aid cover due to high poverty levels, with only 5% of the population able to afford medical aid.
Speaking at a post-budget review breakfast meeting in
Harare on Monday, Chitambara, who is also senior research economist and policy
advisor at the Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe
(LEDRIZ) said: “Currently about 5% of Zimbabweans are on some form of medical
aid cover and I believe that we must come up with some national healthcare
insurance scheme that is funded through sugar taxes or even taxes on cigarettes
and alcohol.”
He said sin taxes could enhance the budgetary allocations
to the health sector.
“We can even further enhance the health and wellbeing and
social aspects of our citizens. It was recently proposed that 10% of tax should
be channelled towards the creation of a national health scheme to afford
uninsured vulnerable groups health cover,” Chitambara said.
His statement comes amid reports that Zimbabwe’s gross
domestic product per capita is at a low of US$20 compared to US$113 in the
region. This means Zimbabweans cannot afford to spend much on prescription
medication, specialist fees, hospitalisation and other medical costs.
Community Working Group on Health executive director Itai
Rusike said there was need to introduce a mandatory national health insurance
scheme to ensure universal health coverage for all.
“Currently only about 7% of Zimbabweans have access to
medical insurance and this number is insufficient to ensure decent public
health care,” Rusike said.
“No country can prosper without a healthy citizenry. In
line with regional and global best practices, the national health insurance can
be publicly funded through a combination of sin taxes from cigarettes and
alcohol as well as sugar taxes to ensure primary healthcare to every
Zimbabwean. The World Health Organisation has been advocating for sugar taxes
on sugar-sweetened beverages to fight the scourge of non-communicable diseases.
The sugar tax, apart from reducing consumption of sugary drinks, also raises
additional revenue for Treasury.” Newsday
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