
17/09/2022
VP and Minister of Health Dr Chiwenga officially opens AHFoZ 2022 All Stakeholders Conference.
Officially opening Association of Health Funders of Zimbabwe (AHFoZ) 2022 All Stakeholders Conference in Victoria Falls yesterday, Hon Vice President & Minister of Health and Child Care, Gen (Rtd) Dr C.G.D.N Chiwenga said Government was concerned with the exchange rate disparities which are resulting in huge medical aid shortfalls for patients at the point of care.
In a speech read on his behalf by Deputy Minister, Dr John Mangwiro, Dr Chiwenga said the Ministry was committed to ensuring that card-carrying patients can access services without having to pay excessive shortfalls deterrent and retrogressive to the objectives of medical insurance.
VP Dr Chiwenga appreciated the role played by the private sector institutions in contributing to the continued improvement of the country's health delivery system.
He pointed out that the introduction of ICD10 coding which was championed by AHFoZ for use by medical aid societies and providers was a welcome development as its use had advantages for government, service providers and medical aid societies.
"We are aware that in other countries projects such as introduction of the ICD10 coding falls directly under the government as it is of National importance. We therefore appreciate your complementary role in running with it. As government the use of ICD10 will enable us to collect statistics on epidemiology among others", said VP Dr Chiwenga.
It surfaced that plans to introduce a Universal Health Cover are still under way. The Universal Health coverage is expected to coexist with the medical aid system. To this end, VP Dr Chiwenga implored medical aid service providers to be innovative and come up with affordable healthcare coverage products in order to extend cover to all potential citizens who still have no medical aid. This would include an extended focus on Mental Health coverage which has not received requisite attention over the years.
VP Dr Chiwenga added that the planned formalisation of the informal sector would make it possible for medical aid societies to collect subscriptions regularly from the “informal” sector without suffering from defaults, an anormally which medical aid societies have previously expressed concern about.
Medical aid societies have always supported the Government through taking care of the healthcare needs of the country’s workforce and their immediate families towards maintaining good quality standards of life.