AS the world marked World Health Day on Tuesday, legislator Mutsa Murombedzi challenged the National Assembly to prioritise rural and maternal health care.
The Mashonaland West Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) proportional representation MP urged lawmakers to treat healthcare as a constitutional obligation rather than a privilege.
"Health is not a luxury, but it is a Constitutional right and a matter of national survival," Murombedzi said.
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She painted a grim picture of conditions in rural Zimbabwe, where expectant mothers still walk long distances to clinics, often only to find essential medicines unavailable.
"l rise to remind this House that health is not a luxury but it is a Constitutional right and a matter of national survival.
"Mr Speaker Sir, the Abuja Declaration challenged us to allocate 15% of our budgets to health. The Maputo Protocol enshrines women's rights to reproductive and maternal care," she said.
Murombedzi stressed that Zimbabwe's development ambitions would remain hollow without meaningful investment in healthcare.
"Rural healthcare and maternal healthcare are not peripheral. They are the backbone of our sovereignty, productivity and our future.
"No mother must die while giving birth to life. A healthy nation is a productive nation. A healthy nation is an educated nation. A healthy nation is a secure nation."
She warned that without improved rural services, adherence to the Abuja Declaration and full implementation of the Maputo Protocol, Zimbabwe cannot claim to be building a healthy society.
"A healthy nation is not a slogan; it is the foundation of our sovereignty and our development. Therefore, I call upon this House to elevate rural health and maternal care to the level of national interest.
"We need to align our budgetary priorities with the Abuja Declaration, our legal obligations with the Maputo Protocol and our continental vision with Agenda 2063. Let us not act out of rhetoric but out of our constitutional accountability as well as generational responsibility," she said.
Responding to the intervention, Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda commended Murombedzi's contribution and suggested the matter be formally debated.
"The subject can actually invite a motion to be debated accordingly. I think that would be a very interesting motion, so that we can reach out to the wider society and public," Mudenda said.
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