Zimbabwe launches appeal as shattered health services need $700 million to restore basic care
By APFriday, October 8, 2010
Zimbabwe’s health services need $700 million
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s health minister says the southern African country needs $700 million to restore health services shattered by a decade of political and economic turmoil.
At the launch Friday of the nation’s biggest health investment and funding appeal, Dr. Henry Madzorera said the “systematic decrease” in basic health care destroyed services once seen as among the best in the region.
The poorest and most vulnerable, particularly in rural communities, were hardest hit by rising child and maternal mortality and acute shortages of medication, including AIDS drugs.
The appeal, backed by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the World Bank, seeks donor, private and government funds to raise annual spending on health per person to $34, up from the present $9.
