Tag: Prosper Chitambara

Calls Mount to Ringfence Zimbabwe’s Sugar Tax

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere With Zimbabwe introducing several taxes over the years to mobilize resources for the health sector, calls are growing to ringfence these funds to ensure they are used for their intended purposes. The recently introduced Fast Food Tax, aimed at tackling the rising burden of non-communicable diseases, follows the Sugar Tax, which was earmarked for cancer treatment. However, economists, parliamentarians, and other stakeholders at a Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) meeting on health financing held Friday have expressed concern that the Sugar Tax proceeds are yet to…

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UHC A Pipe-dream Without Increasing Per-Capita Spending On Healthcare

Kuda Pembere

ZIMBABWE’S per capita health spending is expected to increase by 100 percent from US$20 in 2022 to US$40 this year which however remains far less than what other countries are spending on their people, a leading health economist has said. By Kuda Pembere In a Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) 2023 budget analysis for the health sector, Dr Prosper Chitambara said the country is still spending less of its gross domestic product on health in comparison to other countries. Zimbabwe’s per capita spending on health is still about twice…

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Desperate Zimbos Turn To Crowd Funding For Healthcare Financing

Michael Gwarisa

IN a country where medical aid coverage is less than 10 percent, ordinary Zimbabweans who can’t afford medical aid cover and health insurance have found solace in crowd funding initiatives for critical surgeries and treatment for complicated ailments. By Michael Gwarisa According to the Association of Healthcare Funders Zimbabwe (AHFoZ), medical aid coverage has dropped from a high of 10 percent in 2018 to the current  9 percent, making it untenable for majority of Zimbabweans whose life savings and hard earned cash has turned into manure since August 2018 at…

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