Petition urges new body to tackle Non-Communicable Diseases

Two petitioners have asked Parliament to repeal the National Aids Council Act (Chapter 15:14) and replace it with a comprehensive National Health Council Bill, arguing that Zimbabwe’s successful HIV and AIDS response provides a proven template for tackling the growing threat of non‑communicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health conditions. The proposal, contained in a petition submitted by Jacob Ngwenya, Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Non‑Communicable Diseases Champions Network and one Ms. Nhongo has won the backing of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care.

The health committee recommended a phased expansion of the National AIDS Council’s (NAC) mandate, the ring‑fencing of health‑related taxes and the eventual creation of a single umbrella body to coordinate financing for all major health challenges. The petitioners noted that Zimbabwe’s fight against HIV and AIDS, facilitated by the National Aids Council Act and the AIDS levy, dramatically reduced infection rates and improved access to treatment. The country has achieved the globally recognised 95‑95‑95 targets (95 percent of people living with HIV know their status, 95 percent of those diagnosed are on treatment and 95 percent of those on treatment are virally suppressed).

However, the petitioners argued that Zimbabwe “now faces a different epidemic.” According to the World Health Organisation, NCDs, mainly cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, account for 31 percent of all deaths in Zimbabwe. Mental health conditions also remain severely underfunded and stigmatised. To confront this new burden, Ngwenya and Nhango proposed consolidating all health‑related levies under a single National Health Council.

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These would include the existing AIDS levy (0.5 percent on individual and corporate income), the mobile and broadband health levy, “sin taxes” on tobacco and alcohol, the sugar‑sweetened beverage tax (introduced in the 2024 National Budget), and the 0.5 percent tax on fast food proposed in the 2025 Budget. “A unified framework would streamline resource allocation and facilitate a more coordinated response,” the petitioners told the committee. Presenting the Report of the Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care on the Petition from Ngwenya and Nhango on Tuesday, MP Discent Bajila moved that the House consider and adopt the committee’s recommendations.

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