Minister Attributes Shortage Of Essential Medicines In Zimbabwe To Economic Sanctions
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Ziyambi Ziyambi, has claimed that the current shortage of essential medicines in major hospitals is a result of economic sanctions imposed on the country by the United States, Britain, and their Western allies.
Ziyambi who is also Zimbabwe’s Leader of Government Business in Parliament, made these remarks during a Question and Answer Session in the National Assembly. He acknowledged that the health sector in Zimbabwe is facing challenges, and he attributed the drug shortages to the country’s economic struggles, which have been worsened by the economic sanctions. He said:
We used to have functional pharmaceutical companies that supplied us with medication but we were then slapped with sanctions.
However, with the advent of the second republic, President Mnangagwa got into an agreement with Egypt so that they provide us with medicine.
The Egyptian (government) has built warehouses so that they can store the medicine once they start supplying. In the meantime, we are getting our medicine from Egypt.
Opposition legislators from the Citizens Coalition for Change demanded that the government visit the country’s hospitals to assess the situation firsthand.
The Health and Child Care Minister, Douglas Mombeshora, also acknowledged the serious shortage of medicine and drugs in public hospitals, leaving patients dependent on private health facilities. He described the unavailability of medicine as depressing. NewsDay cites him as saying:
Our ministry acknowledges that the country is facing a serious shortage of medicine and drugs, which is culminating in a crisis, especially at the lower level and has left patients at the mercy of private hospitals.
The healthcare system in Zimbabwe was once considered one of the best in the developing world, according to the World Health Organization in 1985. However, the situation has deteriorated, with some hospitals operating without even basic painkillers. Critics attribute the current state of the healthcare sector to underfunding and corruption.
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