His comments were made at the launch of the Zimbabwe Consumer Action Forum in Harare, hosted by SARPAM in partnership with the Community Working Group on Health and other civic partners.
More than 80 percent of the drugs administered in Zimbabwe are donor-funded yet access to these medicines and diagnostics remains a major challenge.
Patients in need of medicine and a diagnosis, especially in the rural areas, fail to access these services because public health care continues to be treated as a privilege rather than a right in the SADC region.
Molokele said government dependency on donors for drugs had crippled the local pharmaceutical industry.
“We import a huge percentage of generic drugs yet we can manufacture these drugs if our pharmaceutical companies are revitalised,” he said.
He said government priorities were misplaced and there was a need for increased collaboration between government and CSOs “to ensure improved access to essential medicines and diagnostics in the region”.
“There is need for government to consider health as an election agenda and unless the government strengthens its health institutions, people are going to say we cannot vote because we are sick,” said Molokele.
CWGH Director, Itai Mazire, said health was a basic right and governments should ensure that it filters barriers that hinder citizens from accessing all their health care needs.
The role of the Zimbabwe CAFs is to positively influence the pharmaceutical market, including the demand for medicines and their use.
Post published in: News