CCC outlines alternative measures to fix Zimbabwe healthcare system

HARARE – Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) led by Nelson Chamisa has outlined its alternative measures to fix the Zimbabwe healthcare system.

In a statement issued by spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere, the party admitted the health sector in Zimbabwe is deplorable and needs decisive measures to fix the rot.

Attached below is the full statement by Citizens Coalition for Change on health care:

We stand in firm solidarity government health workers who were left with no option but to withdraw their labour on the 20th of June 2022 due to incapacitation and poor working conditions. This is regrettable because the State’s incompetence and failure to address the workers’ concerns and prioritize this critical sector have caused mass suffering to Zimbabweans whose right to affordable, quality health care remains under constant threat.

The health workers issued a public statement on the 17th of June 2022 indicating that they had repeatedly tried to engage the Health Services Board and the Ministry of Health and Childcare over a fourteen-month period to have their plight addressed without success. They stated that their poor conditions of service had caused chronic brain drain in the health sector with over 4000 resignations in the last three years.

Instead of engaging with the health workers to address their concerns in good faith, draconian measures have been introduced to illegally prevent health workers from leaving the country, including through the refusal to issue certificates of good standing.

We call for the concerns that have been raised to be addressed immediately to ensure that the citizens’ right to health is respected.

As the alternative and a government-in-waiting, we wish to put forward highlights of the alternative CCC health policy approach which will solve the nation’s health crisis at its root. This will give citizens insight into the features of health delivery policy in the new Zimbabwe.

Under a CCC Government, the right to access to quality, affordable healthcare will be fully facilitated.

We will ensure the health care system is properly funded through compliance with the Abuja Declaration which requires 15% of national budgets to be allocated to health delivery.

A rights-based approach to healthcare financing will be adopted to ensure that government allocates a minimum per capita budget to healthcare in line with international best practice, which will be equitably distributed across the country.

In the new Zimbabwe, the government will also leverage our national resources to build a globally competitive health delivery system that adequately responds to the needs of citizens.

Doctors, nurses and all heath workers will be paid decent salaries and benefits commensurate with their important contribution to the attainment of the right to health.

We recognize that a motivated, well-resourced medical workforce is crucial to the attainment of our goals. We will invest in upgrading the country’s health infrastructure including the expansion of health facilities such as clinics and hospitals.

We will invest in healthcare equipment and the provision of essential drugs and medicines as well as funding an accelerated programme for training and retaining health personnel.

Health training facilities including university teaching hospitals will be upgraded while grants will be provided for students undergoing training in critical health professions. High standards of medical education will be restored at our medical institutions to align the quality of health practitioners we produce with global standards.

Our priority will be to build a world class healthcare system by strengthening the district health delivery system that provides primary health care through clinic networks and district hospitals.

We will invest heavily in improving primary healthcare. Special attention will be paid to providing quality maternity health care through the establishment of state of the art maternal and pediatric facilities at all health institutions including rural clinics.

A community-based and managed system of primary health care will form the base of the national health delivery system which will extend to referral hospitals and the provision of specialist care.

The referral system will be revamped by ensuring that district and provincial hospitals are adequately funded to ensure they are able to respond to most health cases. An efficient and well-funded referral system will complement the primary and public health care approaches.

A CCC Government will promote public health through education and prevention of disease.

Communities will participate in the planning, provision, control and monitoring of health services including the provision of safe drinking water, sanitation, decent housing, clean and green waste disposal and food hygiene across urban, rural, farming and resettlement communities. Public health responses will be expert-led and in line with global trends.

We will ensure that the welfare of citizens is at the centre of our policy formulation on all issues especially health delivery.

We will champion the development of a high core service standards including protocols and standard operating procedures that govern how health institutions are run, national responses to health crises, human resource distribution and the provision of essential drugs and medical equipment.

Local authorities in cooperation with other statutory bodies will be responsible for inspection and reporting on the implementation of these standards.

We believe that a holistic approach should be adopted to address major concerns in the health sector which is currently faced with a major industrial action by health workers.

We reiterate that our alternative policies will only be implemented following a wide consultation process that extends to experts, health practitioners, communities and citizens.

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