The Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr Douglas Mombeshora, has dismissed as malicious and unfounded an article published in a local daily seeking to cast aspersions on Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga's tenure as Minister of Health, saying he instead laid a foundation for the success of the country's health sector.

VP Chiwenga was appointed Minister of Health and Child Care in 2020 and was in charge up to August 2023 during a period the country experienced its biggest national health emergency as the world battled the Covid-19 pandemic.

The ministry yesterday said the country had made strides in attaining universal health coverage of sufficient quality for an empowered upper middle income economy and was forging ahead despite the Covid-19 headwinds.

Under the watch of VP Chiwenga, the ministry said there was an extensive Covid-19 national vaccination campaign which saw the country averting what could have been a major threat to human existence in the country.

In that period, the ministry also managed to champion several medical facility infrastructure developments while several international health bodies such as the WHO, UNAIDS, UNFPA, and UNICEF heaped praise on the example that Zimbabwe was setting for the developing world.

"The current leadership in the Ministry of Health and Child Care are building on the successes of the previous leadership led by the Vice President Dr Chiwenga when he was Minister of Health and Child Care," said Minister Mombeshora in a statement.