Four major health centres have been built across the country by Government while 69 pharmacies in the past year have been opened as the Second Republic continues to make significant strides towards achieving universal health coverage for all citizens.
Health facilities continue to be expanded and upgraded to boost the quality of health care for all in line with President Mnangagwa's vision of matching best international practices as a pre-requisite for an upper-middle-income society.
The Second Republic has been working round the clock implementing comprehensive reforms in the healthcare sector, re-equipping and upgrading existing hospitals and clinics and building new ones.
Healthcare delivery is anchored as one of the pillars that drive economic development according to the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
Increasing access to health services for all citizens is central to universal health coverage, particularly for the most vulnerable and marginalised people in communities.
Government has plans to construct several 20-bed health centres and five 60-bed district hospitals across the country through a US$210 million facility from the United Kingdom-based medical infrastructure development concern, NMS Infrastructure Limited.
So far, four mini-hospitals have been finshed: Stoneridge in Harare, Cowdray Park in Bulawayo, Mataga Hospital in Mberengwa in the Midlands Province, and Runyararo Health Centre in Chimanimani, Manicaland, where cyclone Idai survivors are being relocated.
All the facilities are self-sustaining with a full solar system, accommodation units for the staff who will be stationed there and they have brick incinerators and water reservoirs.
The facilities are equipped with delivery, prenatal, post-natal and procedure rooms and each has a paediatric ward, three consultation rooms and an imaging store that houses a mobile x-ray machine.
Some of the equipment installed there include anaesthesia machines, X-ray machines, ultrasound and vital signs machines.
For the community in Cowdray Park, people have been using a satellite clinic run by Bulawayo City Council, which was too small to cater for their health needs.
On top of the upgrades in the health delivery system, the Government is also seized with improving the conditions of service for workers in the sector. Improvements include institutional accommodation for health workers with more blocks of flats and houses being built, scholarships funded by the Government for those willing to further their education, and a duty-free vehicle scheme for workers, among others.
The Second Republic also launched the National Health Strategy (NHS) 2021-2025 which is a deliberate effort to improve the health and wellness of the population and eventually ensure universal access to health services.
In an interview, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Aspect Maunganidze said the Government has been involved in various infrastructural projects across the country to improve health service delivery.
"If you look at hospitals, we have four completed mini-hospitals of 20 beds each: Stoneridge in Harare, Mataga in Mberengwa, Runyararo in Chimanimani, and Cowdray Park in Bulawayo. The modern facilities are expected to improve access to health services for most communities," he said.
"Government intends to continue constructing mini-hospitals across the country in areas such as Manhize, Chivi, Zaka, Hwedza and Esigodini, among other places. By the end of the year we want to have completed a further eight projects."
Dr Maunganidze said several hospitals which include Kwekwe General Hospital, Sadza District Hospital, Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital, Gweru Provincial Hospital and Filabusi Hospital have been refurbished, while work on the construction of Lupane Provincial Hospital is progressing well.
In terms of water reticulation at health centres across the country, Dr Maunganidze said they have managed to install 447 boreholes.
"In terms of water reticulation, which is very key in this cholera epidemic, we managed to install 447 boreholes at our clinics. We intend to continue rolling out the programme across the country which will see 200 more boreholes being drilled," he said.
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Dr Maunganidze said a total of 16 solar systems have also since been installed at 16 health facilities in the Midlands and Masvingo provinces.
"We have managed to fully install 16 solar systems mainly in Midlands and Masvingo and we intend to continue in this thrust. We have also managed to do medical gas reticulation for four hospitals including Chivhu, Banket and Victoria Falls hospitals," he said.
"We intend to have full oxygen plants installed especially at Chinhoyi and Lupane hospitals."
Dr Maunganidze said remarkable progress has been made in terms of pharmacy stores and warehouses through the National Pharmaceutical Company (NatPharm) to ensure drugs are sold at affordable prices.
"Between 2022 and 2023, we managed to set up 69 pharmacy stores across the country with 39 specifically being set up last year. These are some of the achievements under the health sector," he said.
