GOVERNMENT says it has started the process of procuring cancer treatment machines following an outcry that the unavailability of the machines was worsening the plight of patient.
Speaking to NewsDay at the weekend, a Health ministry official said cancer treatment machines were critical in the health sector.
“The Health and Child Care ministry has identified the need to procure cancer treatment machines, which have been a critical requirement in the health sector since 2018,” Health and Child Care ministry spokesperson Donald Mujiri said.
“The Ministry of Health has already started the procurement process for the much-needed cancer treatment machines and has received all the required approvals from the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe.”
Government's response came after NewsDay recently revealed that human rights doctors were pressing authorities to release information pertaining to the use of the sugar tax funds.
The doctors were demanding that government should supply them with information on what it used the revenue from the sugar tax. They gave the Health ministry a deadline of January 17 to indicate the equipment bought with funds received from Treasury and the amount received. In a letter dated January 13, 2025 addressed to the Health and Child Care ministry information officer the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) through its lawyers Kantor & Immerman wrote to: “Reference is made to the above matter in which we filed our client’s request for information on December 16, 2024. We note that no acknowledgement of request, let alone the requested information, has been received by us.
“We wish to point out the provisions of section 7(2) of the Freedom of Information Act [Chapter 10:33], which enjoins an information officer to ‘. . . immediately provide a written acknowledgement of the request to the applicant’.
“It has been close to a month since you received the request. You have failed and/or neglected to provide an immediate acknowledgement of request as provided by the law.”
- Teachers, other civil servants face off
- Veld fire management strategies for 2022
- Magistrate in court for abuse of power
- Vungu Dam water treatment and irrigation project takes off
Keep Reading
The doctors said they were requesting the information in terms of section 7 of the Freedom of Information Act [Chapter 10:33].
They reminded the Health ministry officials of “the provisions of section 8(1) . . . which gives you not more than 21 days from the date of the request to provide your response”.
Last month, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion permanent secretary George Guvamatanga stated that government had collected US$30,8 million from the special surtax on sugar content in beverages since the gazetting of Statutory Instrument 16 of 2024, the Customs and Excise (Tariff) (Amendment) Notice, 2024 (No 5) on February 9, 2024.
He was responding to ZADHR following a request made by the doctors on how much money had been collected from the special surtax on sugar content in beverages and if it has been used for the intended purposes.
In the 2024 national budget, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube last November proposed a tax on beverages with high sugar content, saying the revenue generated would go towards the creation of a cancer fund.
He introduced the tax at US$0,02 per gramme of sugar in a refreshment beverage, which he later revised to US$0,002 after complaints by manufacturers and the figure will be slashed to US$0,0005 with effect from January 1, 2025
