Medical cover for vulnerable groups on the cards Minister Prisca Mupfumira
prisca mupfumira

Minister Mupfumira

Leonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter
PLANS are underway to introduce a scheme to provide medical cover for vulnerable groups.
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Prisca Mupfumira told journalists on the sidelines of the on-going 41st session of the African Regional Labour Administration Centre (ARLAC) that a handful of the country’s population were covered by private medical aid schemes leaving the majority at risk.

She said there was a need to extend National Social Security Authority (NSSA) schemes to the informal economy where the majority of workers are.

“We’re trying to come up with a scheme that will assist people both in formal and informal sectors. We’ve private medical aid schemes and these cater for a few people. We need a scheme that will assist even people in rural areas to access health services,” said Mupfumira.

She said the country was understudying other countries in the region, hence the ARLAC meeting which started Tuesday and ended on Friday.

“The majority of people are in the informal sector. We want a scheme for them and that’s being discussed at this meeting. We expect that the resolutions will be useful and contribute to the strengthening of institutions such as NSSA in terms of their sustainability and the benefits they guarantee to pensioners, the injured, the surviving spouses and children among others,” said the minister.

She said Zimbabwe like many countries in the region was faced with a challenge of finding a sustainable social protection system for vulnerable groups who include the poor, the sick, elderly, the widowed and the unemployed.

Given the depressed economic performance of our economy, there is a serious need to have in place vibrant social protection systems, said Mupfumira.

She said once in place, the scheme would see every citizen regardless of income getting social cover.

 

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