Zimbabwe is seeking to strengthen its healthcare system through partnerships with Russian pharmaceutical manufacturers, with a particular focus on improving access to cancer treatment and specialised medical services.
The initiative follows a business visit by Vice-President Kembo Mohadi to pharmaceutical manufacturing companies in St Petersburg, Russia where he toured facilities producing medicines for cancer and other diseases.
Mohadi said Zimbabwe could benefit from Russia’s pharmaceutical technology, expertise and medical innovations by adopting and adapting some of the manufacturing processes to build local capacity.
He said the partnerships could help reduce the cost of treatment while improving access to specialised healthcare across the country.
“Non-communicable diseases, especially cancer, are a fight in the world. It is all over,” Mohadi said.
He noted that while Zimbabwe had invested in procuring cancer treatment machines, more resources and expertise were needed to respond to the growing burden of the disease.
“We don’t only need machines, we also need expertise. We need new technology, new medicines that tackle this disease,” he said.
The Vice-President said the government’s ambition was to decentralise specialised medical services so that patients could receive treatment closer to their communities rather than travelling long distances to major cities.
He added that cooperation with Russian pharmaceutical companies could help Zimbabwe expand its domestic healthcare capabilities, improve the availability of essential medicines and make specialised treatment more affordable.
The proposed partnerships come as Zimbabwe seeks to strengthen its healthcare infrastructure and improve access to specialised treatment, particularly for patients suffering from non-communicable diseases such as cancer.