News / National
Zimbabwe moves to reform public medicine supply system
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The Ministry of Health and Child Care has embarked on a sweeping reform process aimed at resolving medicine shortages at public hospitals, despite the country's main pharmaceutical distributor, NatPharm, holding substantial reserves of essential drugs. The shortages, which have left thousands of patients without critical medications, are being blamed on bureaucratic inefficiencies, funding delays, and weak coordination within the national supply chain.
The reforms follow President Emmerson Mnangagwa's surprise visit to NatPharm and two of the country's largest hospitals—Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and Sally Mugabe Central Hospital—last week. The visit exposed significant gaps in the delivery of medicine, with drugs lying idle in NatPharm warehouses while public hospitals struggle to stock basic supplies.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Aspect Maunganidze, confirmed the Government's response to the crisis, including the rollout of an electronic logistics management information system (eLMIS) designed to improve transparency and efficiency in drug distribution. The eLMIS will track deliveries, manage stock levels, and enable faster responses to medicine shortages in real-time.
"We are now focused on implementing reforms that address the underlying problems in the supply chain," said Dr Maunganidze. "Decentralising distribution hubs and improving financial flows from Treasury and the Health Services Fund are key steps. Sustaining NatPharm's revolving fund and strengthening last-mile delivery will require consistent funding and accountability."
He explained that although public health institutions are supposed to pay NatPharm using allocations from Treasury and the Health Services Fund, delays in disbursement often paralyse the system. These delays, he added, are particularly harmful for patients with non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and asthma, since medicines for these conditions are not covered by donor programmes.
"When disbursements are delayed, so too are payments to NatPharm and, in turn, the delivery of medicines," Dr Maunganidze said. "Even when the medicines are in stock, patients at hospitals might still go without."
Transport and logistics have also become a major bottleneck. Fuel shortages, vehicle breakdowns, and maintenance costs have hampered NatPharm's ability to distribute drugs to over 1,700 facilities across the country. While Treasury aims to release funds quarterly, fiscal constraints and competing demands often delay releases.
NatPharm managing director, Mr Newman Madzikwa, confirmed that while the company maintains adequate stocks, its operations depend on timely payments from the health institutions it serves. "Once medicines are received into NatPharm warehouses, they undergo quality checks before being dispatched based on requisitions from health institutions," he said. "However, delivery runs often face delays due to payment lags and logistical issues."
NatPharm operates on a pull system, whereby hospitals submit quarterly orders. Ideally, deliveries should occur within 30 days, but delays can stretch to six or eight months. Emergency orders, although accepted, depend on stock availability and size, and are ideally fulfilled within 72 hours.
Madzikwa noted that NatPharm's aging fleet of delivery vehicles and increasing maintenance costs further compromise its ability to serve remote areas. The company, he said, needs to fulfil 7,496 different product lines to fully meet national demand.
During President Mnangagwa's visit to NatPharm, his spokesperson, Mr George Charamba, described the pharmaceutical supply system as inefficient and unresponsive to the needs of patients. He criticised the slow and fragmented delivery chain that results in unnecessary suffering.
"You have drugs coming into the country and being received by NatPharm, but NatPharm will not release the drugs unless it has been paid," said Charamba. "The interface between the users and the suppliers is not efficient. Hospitals have their own central stores, but even those are not effective. The entire system needs an overhaul."
His remarks reflect a broader concern about how systemic failures within the health delivery system are undermining efforts to achieve universal healthcare. In many public hospitals, patients are routinely handed prescriptions for basic medicines like antibiotics and painkillers, only to be told the pharmacy shelves are empty. Left with few options, patients must often turn to private pharmacies where prices are out of reach for most.
The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) and other civil society groups have long pointed out that inefficiencies in health procurement not only deny citizens access to healthcare but also increase their financial vulnerability. In many cases, it is the poorest and most marginalised communities that suffer the most.
To address these challenges, Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Daniel Garwe, said his office is working closely with local authorities and EMA to improve environmental and operational oversight across all sectors, including health. "We are supporting the Ministry of Health and Child Care in implementing reforms that promote transparency, enforce accountability, and prioritise critical services," he said.
As part of broader structural reforms, Government is reviewing outdated municipal by-laws and policies that affect service delivery. The newly approved Urban State Land Management Policy, Garwe said, would also help improve the coordination and oversight of public institutions, including health centres.
For now, though, the success of the proposed reforms rests on swift implementation, stronger fiscal discipline, and improved inter-agency coordination. Without these changes, the persistent failure to deliver medicine to patients—even when it is sitting in warehouses—will remain a symbol of Zimbabwe's struggling public healthcare system.
The reforms follow President Emmerson Mnangagwa's surprise visit to NatPharm and two of the country's largest hospitals—Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and Sally Mugabe Central Hospital—last week. The visit exposed significant gaps in the delivery of medicine, with drugs lying idle in NatPharm warehouses while public hospitals struggle to stock basic supplies.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Aspect Maunganidze, confirmed the Government's response to the crisis, including the rollout of an electronic logistics management information system (eLMIS) designed to improve transparency and efficiency in drug distribution. The eLMIS will track deliveries, manage stock levels, and enable faster responses to medicine shortages in real-time.
"We are now focused on implementing reforms that address the underlying problems in the supply chain," said Dr Maunganidze. "Decentralising distribution hubs and improving financial flows from Treasury and the Health Services Fund are key steps. Sustaining NatPharm's revolving fund and strengthening last-mile delivery will require consistent funding and accountability."
He explained that although public health institutions are supposed to pay NatPharm using allocations from Treasury and the Health Services Fund, delays in disbursement often paralyse the system. These delays, he added, are particularly harmful for patients with non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and asthma, since medicines for these conditions are not covered by donor programmes.
"When disbursements are delayed, so too are payments to NatPharm and, in turn, the delivery of medicines," Dr Maunganidze said. "Even when the medicines are in stock, patients at hospitals might still go without."
Transport and logistics have also become a major bottleneck. Fuel shortages, vehicle breakdowns, and maintenance costs have hampered NatPharm's ability to distribute drugs to over 1,700 facilities across the country. While Treasury aims to release funds quarterly, fiscal constraints and competing demands often delay releases.
NatPharm managing director, Mr Newman Madzikwa, confirmed that while the company maintains adequate stocks, its operations depend on timely payments from the health institutions it serves. "Once medicines are received into NatPharm warehouses, they undergo quality checks before being dispatched based on requisitions from health institutions," he said. "However, delivery runs often face delays due to payment lags and logistical issues."
Madzikwa noted that NatPharm's aging fleet of delivery vehicles and increasing maintenance costs further compromise its ability to serve remote areas. The company, he said, needs to fulfil 7,496 different product lines to fully meet national demand.
During President Mnangagwa's visit to NatPharm, his spokesperson, Mr George Charamba, described the pharmaceutical supply system as inefficient and unresponsive to the needs of patients. He criticised the slow and fragmented delivery chain that results in unnecessary suffering.
"You have drugs coming into the country and being received by NatPharm, but NatPharm will not release the drugs unless it has been paid," said Charamba. "The interface between the users and the suppliers is not efficient. Hospitals have their own central stores, but even those are not effective. The entire system needs an overhaul."
His remarks reflect a broader concern about how systemic failures within the health delivery system are undermining efforts to achieve universal healthcare. In many public hospitals, patients are routinely handed prescriptions for basic medicines like antibiotics and painkillers, only to be told the pharmacy shelves are empty. Left with few options, patients must often turn to private pharmacies where prices are out of reach for most.
The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) and other civil society groups have long pointed out that inefficiencies in health procurement not only deny citizens access to healthcare but also increase their financial vulnerability. In many cases, it is the poorest and most marginalised communities that suffer the most.
To address these challenges, Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Daniel Garwe, said his office is working closely with local authorities and EMA to improve environmental and operational oversight across all sectors, including health. "We are supporting the Ministry of Health and Child Care in implementing reforms that promote transparency, enforce accountability, and prioritise critical services," he said.
As part of broader structural reforms, Government is reviewing outdated municipal by-laws and policies that affect service delivery. The newly approved Urban State Land Management Policy, Garwe said, would also help improve the coordination and oversight of public institutions, including health centres.
For now, though, the success of the proposed reforms rests on swift implementation, stronger fiscal discipline, and improved inter-agency coordination. Without these changes, the persistent failure to deliver medicine to patients—even when it is sitting in warehouses—will remain a symbol of Zimbabwe's struggling public healthcare system.
Source - Sunday Mail
