He was speaking at the official opening of the 20th International Inter-Ministerial Conference on South to South and Triangular Cooperation in Population and Development being held in the resort town of Victoria Falls.
President Mnangagwa re-iterated that Zimbabwe remains committed to universal health coverage.
He also underscored that periodic fellowships and capacity building programmes offered by Partners in Population and Development (PPD) had assisted the local health workforce in attaining specialized post graduate qualifications.
“In this regard, we remain grateful to partner countries such as the Republics of Egypt, India and South Africa for providing scholarships. Exchange programmes with other member countries of the PPD are equally appreciated.
“Internally, my Government has increased the number of fully fledged medical schools for the training of doctors and speacialised health personnel towards increased patient-doctor ratio as well as availing specialized health care to grassroots communities,” he said.
President Mnangagwa urged South-South and Triangular Cooperation to find lasting solutions to the challenges caused by emigration of health workers to the developed countries.
“The most pronounced problem being the continued albatross of the illegal sanctions imposed on our country by some western countries.
“Meanwhile, our Government’s investment in the training of doctors, nurses, laboratory scientists and radiographers is being negatively affected by the attrition of health workers due to increased emigration to developed countries.
“It is therefore important for us through the South-South and Triangular Cooperation, to interrogate this phenomenon, share ideas and learn from each other towards addressing the push and pull factors.”
President Mnangagwa also underscored that collaborative multi-country research and development was essential to “promote local capacities with regards the manufacture of drugs and related commodities that better the needs of our respective population.”
