Opinion / Columnist
Govt should fix public health, not meddle in private medical practice
3 hrs ago | Views
This week, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi announced that the government will keep a close eye on private medical practices, particularly concerning issues of pricing. Predictably, this pronouncement drew mixed reactions - some cheered, while others were cautious, recognising the complex realities of healthcare in Zimbabwe.
While Minister Ziyambi's concern appears rooted in protecting patients from exploitative pricing, the real problem is not the private sector's pricing structures, but the government's longstanding failure to adequately fund and develop the public health sector. Without a robust public health system, efforts to regulate the private sector may prove short-sighted, if not outright counterproductive.
Healthcare and national development are inseparable. Without a strong health delivery system, dreams of economic progress will remain elusive. Unfortunately, Zimbabwe's public health sector has been crippled for years by chronic underfunding, economic mismanagement, lack of political will, corruption, maladministration, sanctions, and widespread demotivation among health workers. The result? Zimbabweans are turning to the private sector for services the public system is failing to provide.
It is crucial to note that private healthcare accounts for approximately 33% of Zimbabwe's health services - a significant share in a country grappling with over 75% unemployment. Patients increasingly shun public hospitals riddled with drug shortages, demotivated staff, outdated equipment, and painfully slow service delivery. The private sector has become the only alternative for those seeking dignity, efficiency, and quality care.
Services such as CT scans, MRI, PET scans, and other essential diagnostic tools are largely absent from public institutions. Patients have no choice but to seek these services in private facilities, where they are understandably charged market-related prices for maintaining expensive equipment and meeting operational costs in a harsh economy.
Economically, the law of supply and demand governs these charges. Where demand exceeds supply, prices rise. Rather than interfering with pricing mechanisms in the private sector, the government would do better to address the root cause - the glaring deficiencies within its own health delivery system. If the public system were robust, affordable, and reliable, patients would not flock to the private sector in such numbers. This natural rebalancing would, in turn, drive down private sector prices through competition.
A sound health system is anchored on six pillars: adequate financing, a committed workforce, reliable health informatics, effective leadership, consistent availability of medicines, and efficient service delivery. Zimbabwe's government cannot, in good faith, complain about private sector pricing while failing to uphold these fundamentals in public health institutions.
Rather than threats of price controls, government energy should focus on training and retaining medical specialists within the public sector and equipping hospitals with the necessary tools and resources. When patients have confidence in public hospitals, the pressure on the private sector will lessen organically.
What is often overlooked is the cost of running a private medical practice in Zimbabwe. Practitioners face exorbitant bank loan interest rates, crippling rentals, unsustainable staff salaries, sky-high equipment costs, prohibitive licensing fees, and relentless taxation. Introducing price controls in such an environment risks forcing practitioners to cut corners, compromise care quality, or scale down services entirely. The patient, once again, would suffer most.
Furthermore, private medical practitioners are routinely excluded from government incentives, such as car rebate schemes enjoyed by other professions. What harm would it cause the government to allow a doctor to import a single duty-free vehicle every five years? Instead, the state has stood by as private practitioners are bullied by medical aid societies, leaving them with no recourse.
The private sector is not the villain here; it is a symptom of a failed public system. If the government truly wants to address healthcare inequalities, it must invest in and reform the public sector to the point where it outcompetes private clinics through excellence, not force.
Ultimately, patients deserve choice. The government's role is not to punish those offering services but to ensure that its own services are so efficient and reliable that the private sector is no longer the first - or only - resort.
While Minister Ziyambi's concern appears rooted in protecting patients from exploitative pricing, the real problem is not the private sector's pricing structures, but the government's longstanding failure to adequately fund and develop the public health sector. Without a robust public health system, efforts to regulate the private sector may prove short-sighted, if not outright counterproductive.
Healthcare and national development are inseparable. Without a strong health delivery system, dreams of economic progress will remain elusive. Unfortunately, Zimbabwe's public health sector has been crippled for years by chronic underfunding, economic mismanagement, lack of political will, corruption, maladministration, sanctions, and widespread demotivation among health workers. The result? Zimbabweans are turning to the private sector for services the public system is failing to provide.
It is crucial to note that private healthcare accounts for approximately 33% of Zimbabwe's health services - a significant share in a country grappling with over 75% unemployment. Patients increasingly shun public hospitals riddled with drug shortages, demotivated staff, outdated equipment, and painfully slow service delivery. The private sector has become the only alternative for those seeking dignity, efficiency, and quality care.
Services such as CT scans, MRI, PET scans, and other essential diagnostic tools are largely absent from public institutions. Patients have no choice but to seek these services in private facilities, where they are understandably charged market-related prices for maintaining expensive equipment and meeting operational costs in a harsh economy.
Economically, the law of supply and demand governs these charges. Where demand exceeds supply, prices rise. Rather than interfering with pricing mechanisms in the private sector, the government would do better to address the root cause - the glaring deficiencies within its own health delivery system. If the public system were robust, affordable, and reliable, patients would not flock to the private sector in such numbers. This natural rebalancing would, in turn, drive down private sector prices through competition.
A sound health system is anchored on six pillars: adequate financing, a committed workforce, reliable health informatics, effective leadership, consistent availability of medicines, and efficient service delivery. Zimbabwe's government cannot, in good faith, complain about private sector pricing while failing to uphold these fundamentals in public health institutions.
Rather than threats of price controls, government energy should focus on training and retaining medical specialists within the public sector and equipping hospitals with the necessary tools and resources. When patients have confidence in public hospitals, the pressure on the private sector will lessen organically.
What is often overlooked is the cost of running a private medical practice in Zimbabwe. Practitioners face exorbitant bank loan interest rates, crippling rentals, unsustainable staff salaries, sky-high equipment costs, prohibitive licensing fees, and relentless taxation. Introducing price controls in such an environment risks forcing practitioners to cut corners, compromise care quality, or scale down services entirely. The patient, once again, would suffer most.
Furthermore, private medical practitioners are routinely excluded from government incentives, such as car rebate schemes enjoyed by other professions. What harm would it cause the government to allow a doctor to import a single duty-free vehicle every five years? Instead, the state has stood by as private practitioners are bullied by medical aid societies, leaving them with no recourse.
The private sector is not the villain here; it is a symptom of a failed public system. If the government truly wants to address healthcare inequalities, it must invest in and reform the public sector to the point where it outcompetes private clinics through excellence, not force.
Ultimately, patients deserve choice. The government's role is not to punish those offering services but to ensure that its own services are so efficient and reliable that the private sector is no longer the first - or only - resort.
Source - online
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