Zimbabwe’s2025 Mid-Year Budget Review has once again underscored the country’s persistent failure to meet the Abuja Declaration target of allocating at least 15 percent of the national budget to health, despite a modest improvement in the sector’s share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) following a rebasing exercise. According to the review presented Nonetheless, the sector’s allocation represents just 10.1 percent of the total ZiG276.4 billion national budget, falling 4.9 percentage points short of the Abuja target. The Abuja Declaration, signed This wage-heavy spending continues to leave little room for investment in essential healthcare services, including medicines, diagnostics, cancer treatment equipment, and hospital infrastructure.
The budget review also reveals Zimbabwe’s continued dependence on donor support, with US$95.8 million disbursed Despite modest improvements in the health sector’s shareof GDP from 2.1 percent to 2.5 percentafter rebasing, the review highlights worrying delays in critical health infrastructure upgrades and medical equipment procurement. Facilities continue to operate with aging cancer treatment machines, and progress on hospital rehabilitation projects remains slow. The mid-year budget review paints a clear picture.
Zimbabwe’s health sector remains underfunded and overly reliant on donor support, with most domestic funds absorbed To address these structural challenges, analysts and health advocates recommend that Zimbabwe raise the health budget to at least 15 percent of the national budget in line with Abuja commitments. They also emphasize the need to rebalance expenditure toward procurement of medicines, equipment, and infrastructure development. Furthermore, investing in health system resilience, including public health surveillance and emergency preparedness, is seen as critical.
There is also a growing call to leverage public-private partnerships and explore domestic health financing innovations to ensure the sector’s long-term sustainability. You must belogged into post a comment.
Source: HealthTimes
