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<h3 style="font-size:1.6em;line-height:2em"><span>PHM Zimbabwe Applauds WHO’s Stripping of Mugabe’s Ambassadorial Role</span></h3>
<p style="line-height:2em;text-align:left">PHM Zimbabwe Applauds WHO’s Stripping of Mugabe’s Ambassadorial Role 23 October 2017, Harare, Zimbabwe The People’s Health Movement (PHM) Zimbabwe applauds the World Health Organisation (WHO) for swiftly withdrawing the appointment of President Robert Mugabe as the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in light of the current shambolic state of public health delivery system in Zimbabwe.<br><br>The movement was shocked by this inappropriate honour considering the apparent lack of political will to address mounting health problems affecting the country. First of all, financial allocation to the health sector has continued to shrink over the past years despite government commitment to the Abuja Declaration of allocating at least 15% of the national cake to health. <br><br>While PHM Zimbabwe acknowledges that the current harsh economic environment has bearing on the meagre resources being allocated to health, what is disturbing is that the security ministries of home affairs and defence always get well above the health sector even in these times of political stability and peace. This clearly points to misplaced priorities and political will to address the crisis in the health sector. <br><br>It should be noted that most of Zimbabwe’s health programmes are being sustained by donors without which, the flagging health sector would have ground to a complete halt years back. The Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS programmes, Malaria, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) and community health programmes – all these are funded by donors. About 90% of the country’s medicines are funded by donors. <br><br>It is also fundamentally ironic that the honour came at a time when Zimbabwe’s health situation is at its lowest ebb. The number of people dying of non-communicable disease has increased over the past years because they cannot afford the cost of medication. Cancer and renal patients are selling their livestock and household goods as they struggle with catastrophic health expenditures due to lack of a safety net.<br><br>It should be noted that only 10% of Zimbabweans have medical insurance and the rest are struggling to pay medical bills. Even those with medical aid are often required to pay-out of pocket because of huge shortfalls. A huge number of rural Zimbabweans are now resorting to traditional medicine because they cannot afford the cost of medicines and other medical procedures.<br><br>There is a critical shortage of staff in clinics and hospitals due to the freeze on employment of health workers, not enough medicines, no equipment, no ambulances, while emergency services have virtually ground to a halt.<br><br>What logic and justification is there in honouring a man who is running a country where mothers are dying every week due to avoidable and preventable pregnancy-related complications as if Zimbabwe is in a war situation? At least 276 mothers have died of pregnancy complications between January and September 2017. Typhoid and cholera, archaic diseases that were completely eliminated in some parts of the world, continue to claim innocent lives in Zimbabwe. At least 6 people have succumbed to typhoid and related diseases since last year while 2 531 suspected typhoid cases were reported throughout the country.<br><br>In 2008, over 4 000 Zimbabweans succumbed to cholera and since then there continue to be sporadic outbreaks of the diseases in different parts of the country, a clear indication of the government’s failure to contain the medieval disease. <br><br>What is further disturbing is that the political elite have since stopped seeking medical attention from local health institution even for very minor ailments, preferring well-resourced foreign hospitals, a sign of lack of confidence in their own health system. As a result, they don’t see the urgency, let alone the need, to address the current health crisis as they have financial means to seek medical attention elsewhere even for ANC visits and routine dental cleaning.<br><br>As a leader of a respected international body, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus should have exercised due diligence well before making such a diplomatic blunder. Questions are now being asked about whether he is the right person to lead the health body given his failure to foresee and judge the implications of conferring such an important honour on a man accused of neglecting the health sector and outright gross human rights violations</p>
<p style="line-height:2em;text-align:left">It is our sincere hope as PHM Zimbabwe that the embarrassing withdrawal of the global honour will jolt the government into quickly addressing the crisis in the health sector and cleaning-up the country’s soiled human rights record to gain back the international respect and recognition it used to take pride in.<br><br><b>Issued by the PHM Zimbabwe Steering Committee<br><br></b></p>
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