Zimbabwe is already planning how to deal with the United States possibly stopping or reducing health support. The government wants to ensure there are no gaps in healthcare. Dr Douglas Mombeshora, the Health and Child Care Minister, says two things are very important.
First, the medical staff who are doing a great job must keep working without any breaks. Zimbabwe will pay their salaries so they can continue helping people. Second, the country will start ordering important medicines that the US used to pay for. This way, there will always be enough drugs available.
Last year, Zimbabwe began efforts to bring around 20,000 health workers paid by foreign aid into the public health system. Most of these workers were smart and worked closely with the Health Ministry. But there were some problems with people not showing up for work. There were also worries that strange American health ideas could affect parts of Zimbabwe's health programs.
The Health Ministry started working with the Finance Ministry to figure out how to make all these aid-funded health workers regular government employees. About 19,000 of them are community health workers. They have been very important in fighting malaria, testing people for HIV, and giving out HIV medication.
These community health workers have also been fantastic at encouraging vaccinations. Doctors working in different districts praised them for convincing mothers to vaccinate their children, even when some people were against it. The idea of getting rid of these workers has upset the medical staff, who have come to admire and depend on them.
There are also almost 1,000 more specialized doctors and nurses who have been helping out. The Health Ministry wants to bring them into the official system as well. Most of them already work with the Ministry, so it should not be a big problem.
Using foreign aid groups to pay health workers did make things more expensive. Extra administrators did not add much value. The Health Ministry would rather spend money on doctors and nurses than on more office workers.
Zimbabwe will have to find quite a bit of money if the US stops giving health aid. But by being more efficient and having simpler ways of doing things, the country will not have to replace every single dollar it loses.
Dr Mombeshora also wants to assure people who get medicines with help from US aid that everything will be okay. The government is already taking steps to buy the next batch of needed drugs. The supplies they have right now should last until June.
The Health Ministry and the whole government do not expect any problems, no matter what the United States decides in the end. Since 2018, when Zimbabwe fixed its money system, the government has been able to handle budget emergencies quite smoothly.
When the country faced challenges like COVID-19 and severe drought, it managed to pay for most things by quickly changing the budget in smart ways. The Finance Ministry is already planning for the possibility of needing more money for health. It is looking at saving more tax money for healthcare and making sure that everyone who should pay taxes does so.
First, the medical staff who are doing a great job must keep working without any breaks. Zimbabwe will pay their salaries so they can continue helping people. Second, the country will start ordering important medicines that the US used to pay for. This way, there will always be enough drugs available.
Last year, Zimbabwe began efforts to bring around 20,000 health workers paid by foreign aid into the public health system. Most of these workers were smart and worked closely with the Health Ministry. But there were some problems with people not showing up for work. There were also worries that strange American health ideas could affect parts of Zimbabwe's health programs.
The Health Ministry started working with the Finance Ministry to figure out how to make all these aid-funded health workers regular government employees. About 19,000 of them are community health workers. They have been very important in fighting malaria, testing people for HIV, and giving out HIV medication.
These community health workers have also been fantastic at encouraging vaccinations. Doctors working in different districts praised them for convincing mothers to vaccinate their children, even when some people were against it. The idea of getting rid of these workers has upset the medical staff, who have come to admire and depend on them.
There are also almost 1,000 more specialized doctors and nurses who have been helping out. The Health Ministry wants to bring them into the official system as well. Most of them already work with the Ministry, so it should not be a big problem.
Using foreign aid groups to pay health workers did make things more expensive. Extra administrators did not add much value. The Health Ministry would rather spend money on doctors and nurses than on more office workers.
Zimbabwe will have to find quite a bit of money if the US stops giving health aid. But by being more efficient and having simpler ways of doing things, the country will not have to replace every single dollar it loses.
Dr Mombeshora also wants to assure people who get medicines with help from US aid that everything will be okay. The government is already taking steps to buy the next batch of needed drugs. The supplies they have right now should last until June.
The Health Ministry and the whole government do not expect any problems, no matter what the United States decides in the end. Since 2018, when Zimbabwe fixed its money system, the government has been able to handle budget emergencies quite smoothly.
When the country faced challenges like COVID-19 and severe drought, it managed to pay for most things by quickly changing the budget in smart ways. The Finance Ministry is already planning for the possibility of needing more money for health. It is looking at saving more tax money for healthcare and making sure that everyone who should pay taxes does so.
