Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr David Parirenyatwa

Published: 24 April 2014

The country's pharmaceutical sector is ailing, with the National Pharmaceutical Company (Nat-Pharm) failing to pay pharmaceutical companies while it is also owed about $11 million by the government.

Undercapitalisation of Nat-Pharm has left the local health sector in a precarious position as many pharmaceutical companies are owed millions of dollars by the company for the procurement of drugs for all state-run hospitals.

Some of the pharmaceutical companies have already closed.

The money has been accrued from drugs supplied to state-run health institutions and mission hospitals over the past years.

With 98 percent of drug stocks at Nat-Pharm coming from donors, the Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr David Parirenyatwa said companies have since stopped supplying the government owned institutions due to arrears accrued over the years.

Nat-Pharm requires at least $65 million annually but was allocated $2,5 million in the 2014 national budget, an amount yet to be released.

Just a few years ago, Zimbabwe was rated the second largest drug manufacturing country in the region outside South Africa with nine licensed pharmaceutical companies.

Of late, however, the majority of the companies are operating below capacity and surviving through lines of credit.
- zbc

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