BY BRENNA MATENDERE
AMID the recent abrupt cut in funding by the Government of the United States of America and its potential implications for the response to HIV, Health and child care minister Douglas Mombeshora says the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) will cover the gap.
The US recently cut support worth $53,195,423 aimed to “reduce the number of new infections among adolescent girls and young women” which triggered panic and speculation that ARVs would run short.
However Mombeshora speaking at a recent workshop for reporters in Chinhoyi organised by the National Aids Council said the government has both short and long term strategies to handle the situation.
He said the Aids levy will in the meantime cover the gap while the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) will be a long term solution.
“You are probably all now familiar with the recent abrupt cut in funding by the Government of the United States of America and its potential implications for the response to HIV and related diseases in our country. As Government we have already begun to put strategies in place to ensure that our people are not vulnerable,” he said.
“The wisdom of Government in establishing the National AIDS Trust Fund (commonly known as the AIDS Levy) has now been amply demonstrated by the need to have sustainable domestic funding mechanisms in cases of donor withdrawal. In addition to the levy, Government is working on various long-term initiatives, which include the National Health Insurance and others.”
The NHIS is expected to get operational this year to protect citizens from the effects of out-of-pocket healthcare expenses.
The scheme also aims to provide equitable, affordable and high quality healthcare to all Zimbabweans, eliminating financial barriers to healthcare access.
It is guided by core principles of inclusivity and equity, quality and efficiency, transparency, accountability and sustainability.
Speaking in the past at the scheme’s national stakeholders consultative meeting in Harare, Health and Child Care secretary Aspect Maunganidze emphasized on the importance of collective efforts in establishing a comprehensive and sustainable insurance scheme.
He said government would engage in a thorough and inclusive discussion about the design, implementation and sustainability of the NHIS.
Bernad Madzima, the Nac chief executive told reporters at the Chinhoyi workshop that though the response to HIV has recorded significant progress over the years, the National AIDS Council has continued to prioritise the media as a key partner.
He revealed that over 15,000 new HIV infections and over 17,000 AIDS deaths were recently recorded.
“The rise in HIV related non-communicable diseases is also a major need for the continued media partnership that we are cultivating. At the same time, the response has entered the sustainability phase, whose main stark reminder has been the recent action by the United States Government to cut their donor support to several key areas of the response,” he said.
“Even though we have the resilient AIDS Levy to address some of the gaps created by the funding cuts, the levy falls short of the magnitude of the gap. We therefore look up to the media to help bring this reality to the fore of both policy and programme development.”
