THE Ministry of Health and Child Care has proposed that Treasury presents a supplementary budget to address the impact of the withdrawal of United States funding for the health sector, especially on HIV/Aids programmes.
The Permanent Secretary for Health and Child Care, Dr Aspect Maunganidze, said the procurement of Anti-Retroviral drugs, condoms and other measures to prevent the transmission of sexually-transmitted infections had been affected by the withdrawal of the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Dr Maunganidze said this when he appeared before the joint sitting of the Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care and the Thematic Committee on HIV and Aids to brief them on the impact of the withdrawal of US funding and measures they were taking to alleviate the impact.
Soon after returning to the White House, US President Donald Trump suspended all foreign aid administered through the US Agency for International Aid (USAID). While PEPFAR is overseen by the US State Department, it is implemented primarily by other agencies particularly USAID and the Centre for Disease Control (CDC).
Dr Maunganidze said while they had contingency plans for funding withdrawal, the abrupt nature and magnitude of the US action was not expected.
"So, we have noted over the years that there has been a gradual decrease of donor support in general. This was the worst because it was just a cut. But otherwise, knowledge that donors will slowly go away is something that we are aware of," he said.
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"However, for this immediate need that we have, we have to acknowledge that timely and adequate disbursement of allocated budgets from Treasury would go a long way in addressing some of our needs. It might not be enough, but if it's timely and as a budget, then at least we know we have something to start with".
Dr Maunganidze said in addition, they were also requesting for proper ring-fencing of funds that have been put in place specifically for health.
"These include the Health Life Fund, which has been in existence for some time, where every time you make a call, or you use data, or you send an SMS, a small percentage goes to the Health Life Fund, if this is properly ring-fenced, it will go a long way," he said.
"If this is also properly ring-fenced, it will assist a lot. If there are other taxes that can be specifically, which exist, but can also be specifically ring-fenced, it will go a long way. With the abrupt US government freeze, we foresee a situation where a supplementary budget would be inevitable."
The ministry has been receiving between 40 percent and 55 percent of its budget from partners, with the remainder coming from the US government.
Dr Maunganidze said the establishment of the long-awaited National Health Insurance scheme would also go a long way in addressing funding for the health sector.
