Source: ‘Health levy to stem drug shortages’ – DailyNews Live
Bridget Mananavire 11 July 2017
HARARE – Health and Child Care minister David Parirenyatwa says the five
percent health levy introduced by government on all air time purchases
will improve ordinary citizen’s access to drugs and better health care.
Government began deducting a five percent health levy on all airtime
purchases this March which it said would help fund purchases for drugs and
equipment for public hospitals.
Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa proposed in his 2017 National Budget to
introduce the tax on airtime and mobile data, under the “Talk-Surf and
Save a Life” initiative.
“We are happy with the health levy and that money can be used to buy drugs
and equipment.
“The money is going into a dedicated account and we have formed a
committee to see what the priorities are,” Parirenyatwa told the Daily
News.
Currently, 95 percent of the drugs’ stocks come from donors, while
government is contributing just five percent.
The levy, pegged at five cents for every dollar of airtime – expected to
beef up the $281 million budget allocation for the Health ministry – comes
as an added financial obligation for Zimbabwe’s mobile network operators.
Meanwhile, government has cleared a $26 million debt it owed the National
Pharmaceutical Company (NatPharm), for medicines procured for public
hospitals.
The drug crisis in Zimbabwe had seen major hospitals suspend elective
operations last year, with recent revelations that the country was left
with only two weeks stock of anaesthetic drugs.
“We are happy that the $26 million debt has been cleared, we had been
making repeated appeals to Treasury and now we can be able to move on,”
Parirenyatwa said.
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