The Ministry of Health and Child Care has dispatched a fresh team to reassess how government hospitals used Targeted Approach funds, a move expected to trigger the prosecution of officials implicated in corruption and flouting of State Procurement Board regulations in the purchase of medical equipment.
Health and Child Care Minister David Parirenyatwa announced the crackdown after a tour of Gweru Provincial Hospital, according to Bulawayo24 News, which reported that documented abuse of the funds had already been recorded at institutions such as Mnene Hospital in Mberengwa and Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo.
Loopholes that betrayed the people will be closed
The Targeted Approach fund was designed to equip our public hospitals, the last line of defence for ordinary Zimbabweans who cannot afford private care. That some officials saw fit to loot or mishandle these resources is an insult to every family that queues at a public clinic from dawn. The minister made clear that this betrayal will not be swept under the carpet.
'Our teams are going back to reassess how the Targeted Approach money was used. We're going to visit hospitals like Mnene and assess how the money they received was used. I'm sure there're many hospitals in that situation,' Parirenyatwa said.
'We're doing this nationwide and that will help us to come up with the way forward on the usage of any money that comes into the health institutions, be it donor money or from the government.'
The reassessment will cover the procurement of medical equipment, where underhand dealings and violations of State Procurement Board procedures were documented. Officials found with dirty hands must face the full wrath of the law. A hospital administrator who steals from sick Zimbabweans steals from the nation itself, and no patriotic excuse can cover that crime.
Midlands allocated $460,000, given only $3,000
The tour also exposed a scandal of a different kind: the starving of our health institutions by the treasury. Parirenyatwa revealed that Midlands province was allocated $460,000 in the national budget, but to date only $3,000 has been disbursed.
'Midlands as a province was allocated $460,000 in the national budget but to date only $3,000 has been disbursed. We continue to lobby the rest of the government and treasury to look at this priority area of health,' he said.
'You can't begin to allocate $460,000 and disburse just $3,000. We need everybody to assist us because our hospitals will not do better if we don't give them resources and they start relying on unreliable donor fund.'
Here is the truth that must be spoken without fear. A sovereign nation does not run its health system on the charity of foreign donors, whose money arrives with strings attached and whose agendas are not our agendas. Our hospitals must be funded by our own treasury, answerable to our own people. The minister said as much: government health institutions should not be allowed to rely on donor funds for survival when government was there, and the State must lead from the front in resourcing the sector.
Even in wealthy nations the debate over public health funding never stops. In the United States, Politico reports that states received another $10 billion for rural health amid far larger Medicaid cuts, while a KFF analysis found rural health fund awards per resident vary widely, from under $100 in twelve states to more than $500 in eight. If the Americans fight over how to fund their hospitals, we have every right to demand that our own treasury treats Zimbabwean lives as a priority.
Gweru Provincial Hospital shows what dedication achieves
Amid the gloom, there is proof that Zimbabwean hands, given even meagre tools, can deliver. Parirenyatwa welcomed the fact that Gweru Provincial Hospital operates an Intensive Care Unit ward, which is saving lives, especially those of road accident victims.
He said there was need for all hospitals along the country's major highways to have ICUs to improve their efficiency in attending to accident victims. That is a call this newspaper endorses without reservation. Our highways carry the arteries of our economy, and a crash victim should never die for want of a functioning intensive care bed.
The minister described his visit as a support mission, part of a nationwide monitoring exercise.
'This is what we call a support visit where we're monitoring the situation on the ground and we've been going around the country doing that,' he said.
'I'm beginning to appreciate that our staff is working very hard with limited resources and under quite difficult circumstances.'
That hard work deserves better than corruption at the top and starvation at the treasury. The nurse who serves at Mnene, the doctor who keeps an ICU running in Gweru on a shoestring, these are the quiet heroes of our nation. They deserve resources, and they deserve colleagues they can trust.
What happens next
Today the minister tours Zvishavane and Mberengwa hospitals, where the Mnene Hospital file awaits him. The nation will be watching. Prosecutions must follow where evidence demands, and treasury must loosen the purse strings it has kept clenched. Zimbabwe's health is Zimbabwe's business, funded by Zimbabwe's resources, protected by Zimbabwean law.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the Health Ministry reassessing hospital funds?
The ministry sent a team to reassess the use of Targeted Approach funds after documented abuse, including corruption and violations of State Procurement Board regulations in the procurement of medical equipment at institutions such as Mnene Hospital and Mpilo Central Hospital.
How much of Midlands' health budget has been released?
Midlands province was allocated $460,000 in the national budget, but only $3,000 has been disbursed to date, according to Health Minister David Parirenyatwa.
Will hospital officials be prosecuted?
The reassessment is expected to result in the prosecution of government hospital officials implicated in corruption and underhand dealings involving the Targeted Approach funds.