The move, set
to transform Zimbabwe’s healthcare landscape, is an initiative that also
promises to be a cornerstone in the nation’s journey towards Universal Health
Coverage (UHC), ensuring all citizens have access to essential health services
without facing financial ruin.
The NHI scheme
is designed to fundamentally align with one of the core goals of the health
system: “Protecting the population from impoverishment when accessing health
care services.”
Speaking
recently at the Association of Health Care Funders Zimbabwe (AHFoZ) annual
conference in Victoria Falls, the Minister of Health and Child Care, Douglas
Mombeshora, confirmed the latest development, reaffirming Government’s
commitment to collaboration and innovation in achieving a resilient health
system.
“Our vision, as
articulated in the National Health Strategy (2021-2025), is to achieve ‘a
healthy and productive nation that enjoys equitable access to quality health
services.’ This vision is not achievable without robust partnerships,” he said.
He said there
is a critical challenge of financing, noting the Government’s efforts to
mitigate the reliance on external donors, whose funding has been declining.
He said the
funding mechanism for the scheme is premised on a non-contributory model
supported by earmarked taxes.
These include
the existing AIDS levy, airtime levy, and proposed taxes on fast foods, sugar,
tobacco, and alcohol, alongside other potential sources like mining taxes.
The benefits
for the population are substantial and structured to be equitable and
progressive.
“The proposed
benefit package guarantees 100 percent coverage for community and primary care
level interventions, ensuring that the most basic and essential care is fully
accessible. This coverage scales to 80 percent at the district level, 60
percent at the tertiary level, and 40 percent at the quaternary level, all
guided by principles of equity – services accessible to all citizens,
especially vulnerable groups, and affordability – focus on high-impact,
low-cost interventions,” he said.
This
incremental approach ensures the system is financially sustainable while
addressing Zimbabwe’s dual burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases
(NCDs).
“The importance
of this scheme cannot be overstated, as it directly addresses the critical
state of health financing in the country. Current public health funding has
been inadequate to fully finance the NHS and continues to miss various per
capita spending benchmarks. Furthermore, the health sector faces a significant
decline in funding from the rest of the world and corporations compared to
previous years, creating an uncertainty in external funding levels [which]
remains a concern,” he said.
This is
compounded by the fact that committed domestic budgets are vulnerable to
inflation and exchange rate volatility.
In response,
the Government has proactively moved to increase domestic resource
mobilisation.
“The Government
has increased health funding from ZiG117 million in 2020 to an average of
ZiG463 million over the 2021-2023 period, a significant step towards health
sovereignty. This increased domestic funding is crucial as external support
becomes less reliable.
“The Ministry
of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) is exploring sustainable and equitable
financing mechanisms that reduce the out-of-pocket burden on our citizens. This
includes exploring innovative risk-pooling mechanisms. To that end, the MoHCC
has made great strides in compiling a National Health Insurance (NHI) model and
the Draft NHI Bill is now at an advanced stage,” he said. Herald
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