Source: Sanctions bleeding health sector: Minister -Newsday Zimbabwe
HEALTH and Child Care deputy minister Slayman Kwidini, has blamed Western-imposed sanctions for the decline of Zimbabwe’s local pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, citing companies such as Datlabd and Caps Pharmaceuticals as major casualties.
Kwidini said this during a question-and-answer session in Parliament in response to questions from legislators on the collapse of once-thriving local drug manufacturers.
He said the country did not face such challenges before the sanctions era.
“We have been discussing this issue for more than 20 years. However, before those 20 years, we did not have these problems; that problem actually came after the sanctions were introduced. Companies like Datlabs and Caps were affected by the sanctions that some people reject here,” Kwidini said.
He said the government had not sat idly by waiting for the removal of the sanctions but had instead turned to international partners for supplies.
“As the government, we did not wait for the removal of sanctions. We proceeded to other countries,” Kwidini said.
However, he also acknowledged the challenges associated with importing medicines from unfamiliar suppliers.
“When you try to procure something that you do not see, you may end up buying counterfeit drugs that may give you problems here. Where we buy, people will be at the factory when the drugs are manufactured to ensure that they will not affect our people,” he said.
Brian Mast, a Republican from Florida and Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has introduced an omnibus Bill, proposing the “Department of State Policy Provisions Act”, which is set to repeal the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (Zidera).
Under the proposed Bill, US support for international credit to Zimbabwe would still be on condition that Zimbabwe fully pays white former farmers, displaced under Zimbabwe’s fast-track land reform programme.
The US insists there are no sanctions, insisting the embargo targets institutions and individuals that violate human rights or are implicated in corrupt practices.
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