THE government is planning to use airtime tax to fund healthcare after the sector suffered serious disruptions following United States President Donald Trump's suspension of foreign aid across the world, NewsDay can report.
The country’s health system has been strained following years of decline due to various challenges including an economic downturn with the government relying on donor-funded programmes to sustain the sector.
Trump in January issued an executive order to review foreign aid while reducing funding for programmes deemed to be opposed US interests.
In a statement on the “Impact of US funding cuts on HIV programmes in Zimbabwe”, UNAids confirmed that the government was engaging other partners to assist in the funding of its health programmes.
“The government is exploring various sources of funding, including the current airtime tax to sustain healthcare financing. Engagements with China and the Gates Foundation are ongoing to expand support for health programmes,” the UN agency said.
Then Finance and Economic Development minister Patrick Chinamasa proposed the introduction of a 5% levy on all mobile phone airtime and mobile broadband to cater for a health fund in the 2017 national budget.
However, the Health and Child Care ministry delayed the implementation of a health levy after Treasury reportedly indicated that it was working on aspects related to collection and policy guidelines.
Under the theme Talk, Surf and Save a Life, the levy was expected to beef up the US$281 million budget allocation for healthcare and procurement of drugs and equipment with effect from January 2019.
- Letter from America: Is former president Donald Trump a hero or villain?
- Chidzivo, Tarakinyu clinch Kabag honours
- Letter from America: Is former president Donald Trump a hero or villain?
- Poverty drives Epworth women into sex work
Keep Reading
Tax authorities also confirmed yesterday that the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) was collecting 5% from airtime and mobile data sales.
“We can confirm that the 5% levy was being collected and this has been going on for some time but we can conclusively say the money was being collected for healthcare funding,” they said.
According to a survey conducted by the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce a business operating in Zimbabwe makes at least 51 payments for it to be considered compliant with tax obligations.
Zimbabwe solely depends on tax revenue to fund its national budget after it was shut out by international financial institutions for failing to settle its debts.
In the 2024 national budget, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion minister Mthuli Ncube introduced a sugar tax of US$0,02 per gramme of sugar in a refreshment beverage. This was later slashed to US$0,0005 per gramme with effect from January 1, 2025.
The government said by the end of November, it had collected US$30,8 million from the special surtax on sugar content in beverages since the gazetting of the SI on February 9, 2024.
Community Working Group on Health executive director Itai Rusike yesterday said while they were shocked by US funding withdrawal, Zimbabwe must manoeuvre out of this crisis without any major backsliding on the diseases and conditions that were covered under the aid programme.
“I think this is a time when Zimbabweans must come together and plan wellbeing, health and life so that the disruption and damage is minimised on beneficiaries and staff on the affected programmes,” he said.
“We have over the years used our unique health financing advocacy urging the government to broaden its health financing strategies by exploring the full spectrum of domestic resource mobilisation for health.”
Rusike said agencies were pre-warned about the impending cuts or weaning off of aid by 2030, expressing hope that the government was working on a strategy for transitioning out by major donors by then.
“The challenge with the new US government funding has been the abrupt cuts and the way the planned weaning was, therefore, brought fast forward by five years,” he said.
Development economist at the Africa Centre for Economic Justice Chenayi Mutambasere said the budget allocation for healthcare was at risk of significant funding gaps following Trump’s directive.
“The fact is that in 2024, the government only disbursed just over 50% of the allocated budget for healthcare. Zimbabwe is at risk of significant funding gaps and this position is exacerbated by continued exposure to malaria and cholera which increases the communities health needs.
“Zimbabwe needs structural reform so that it can adopt a more sustainable, locally-driven health financing model to reduce reliance on unpredictable external support,” she said.
