Story by Abigirl Tembo, Health Editor
ZIMBABWE is intensifying investment in pharmaceutical infrastructure and technology to guarantee that essential medicines reach every part of the country, a move that is reshaping the nation’s healthcare delivery system.
Through the National Pharmaceutical Strategy, Zimbabwe is reshaping its healthcare delivery by strengthening the pharmaceutical supply chain with strategic investments in both infrastructure and technology.
At the centre of Zimbabwe’s health reforms is the National Pharmaceutical Strategy, a roadmap that seeks to ensure every patient no matter how far they live from the capital has timely access to essential medicines.
NatPharm Managing Director, Mr Newman Madzikwa says the focus is on delivering medicine to every health facility.
“The main thrust on the National Pharmaceutical Strategy is to ensure that we deliver to the last mile where the patient requires the medicine. So we are going to be building it on advanced technology to ensure that we are able to check and trace our products as they enter into the country and when they are finally used by the patient.”
Government’s vision is to establish facilities in every province, reduce delays and ensure medicines are closer to the communities that need them.
“So currently we just completed the facility that is in Mutare and we are looking at renovating the one that is in Harare, not this one, but the regional stores that we are using. We are currently looking for other spaces in the various provinces to ensure that we have warehouses there to ensure that products are closer to where the patients are, minimising the time it takes for the product to reach the patient. We are also looking at building a manufacturing plant that will be able to complete the supply chain that we are envisaging by 2030.
These efforts are part of a broader transformation of the country’s healthcare supply chain, from warehouses to manufacturing and from procurement to last-mile delivery aimed at ensuring no patient is left behind.
What started at NatPHARM is becoming a nationwide movement, turning warehouses into lifelines, and supply chains into bridges that connect medicine to every hospital, clinic and home. This is how Zimbabwe is rewriting the story of healthcare delivery.
