Brain-drained Zimbabwe reveals ambitious plans to increase number of nursing graduates, as flight continues

By Leopold Munhende

GOVERNMENT has revealed ambitious plans to increase the number of nursing graduates by over 100% by 2030 as brain drain in the sector continues to affect health service delivery.

Over 5,000 health professionals, including doctors and nurses, have fled to the UK since 2019, with thousands more opting for America, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand because of better working conditions and pay.

They earn an average of US$255 per month locally while the least experienced stands to take home about US$2,500 in the UK.

Moves to forcibly retain nursing staff intending to leave the country for ‘greener pastures’ by demanding exorbitant fees for relevant documentation have failed to deter the thousands already working towards leaving.

Promises to engage the United Nations (UN) over what Vice President Constantino Chiwenga described as an ‘unfair’ practice by Western countries have not been fulfilled.

Speaking to journalists at this week’s post-cabinet media briefing, Information Minister Jenfan Muswere said the government had approved a six-year programme presented by Higher and Tertiary Education Minister Amon Murwira meant to counter the flight of health personnel.

“The Health Workforce Strategy 2023-2030 aims at ensuring a sustainable and resilient health workforce capable of supporting Zimbabwe’s goal of becoming an upper-middle-income economy by 2030,” said Muswere.

Murwira outlined five strategic themes which are meant to improve the chances of nurses, doctors and other health professionals staying in Zimbabwe; Education, Training and Development; Deployment, Utilisation and Governance; Retention and Migration Management; Monitoring and Evaluation, ICT and Research; Planning and Financing.

Added Muswere: “The Education, Training and Development pillar seeks to align all health worker training programmes with health sector needs, to increase annual training outputs from 3 334 in 2022 to at least 7 000 by 2030, to professionalise and integrate community health workers into the main workforce and to refurbish and expand training schools infrastructure.

“Under the Health Workforce Retention and Migration Management pillar, the aim is to remunerate optimally in terms of Government modalities to reduce the attrition rate by 2030.”

Zimbabwe’s health sector is one of the victims of the country’s long years of mismanagement, economic collapse and basic disregard.

Very little has been invested in the sector over the years with the government being forced to raise its head by the continuously rising figures of health professionals fleeing the country.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Zimbabwe is on its red list of countries with dire health service shortages.