Everyone has a role to play in helping Zimbabwe achieve the vision of becoming a middle income economy by 2030, Health and Child Care Minister Obadiah Moyo said on Friday, when he toured the newly renovated Cimas Medical Laboratory in Harare.
Speaking after touring the laboratory, which has been re-equipped as well as refurbished, Dr Moyo said it was pleasing to see that Cimas is continuing to invest in providing top class medical laboratory services.
“We all have a role to play in helping our nation achieve its vision of becoming a middle income economy by 2030 and my Ministry’s goal of transforming our health institutions into world class facilities is definitely recorded here at Cimas MedLabs.
“We see here an example of how a private health institution can benefit the nation at large by its commitment to excellence in providing accurate diagnostic services that are so essential to the correct diagnosis of all sorts of illnesses and health conditions,” he said.
Stressing the importance of medical laboratory tests in modern medicine, he said that as medicine and technology advance it is necessary to periodically acquire new updated equipment that produces the best results.
He said the state-of-the-art laboratory and equipment, as well as the high calibre of scientists and technicians, at Cimas MedLabs should provide clinicians with confidence that the test results produced are accurate and can be relied on for the correct diagnosis and management of diseases through evidence-based medicine benchmarked to international standards.
“They should also reassure our people that their test results are reliable. Research entities and international health institutions can also rely on test results from this laboratory and know that they can partner with MedLabs in making further advances in medicine.
“Globally governments and communities are facing major public health concerns such as cholera, tuberculosis, malaria and HIV. Without laboratory services, the diagnosis, treatment and therapy evaluation of these would be difficult. Medical laboratories therefore play a major role in health delivery systems,” he said.
He went on to say that his ministry is satisfied that Zimbabwe still has the skills and expertise required to make inroads into new territories in medical care.
He said his ministry is confident too that, despite the challenges the health sector faces, Zimbabwe can transform its public health institutions into world class facilities through public-private partnerships.
“It is our hope that eventually the trend of medical tourism, which has seen our people seeking medical attention in other countries such as South Africa and India, will soon be a thing of the past and that we can confidently offer affordable quality health services locally which will themselves attract medical tourism from other countries in the region.
“We have many of the medical skills already. What is needed is further resources and a commitment by all those in the health sector to contributing to the transformation of this sector and of our health institutions and facilities,” he said.
Dr Moyo noted that Zimbabwe still has a long way to go as a country in achieving this but said it was pleasing that the nation already has medical laboratories such as the new Cimas MedLabs laboratory of a high international standard that can be relied on for accurate diagnostic information.