The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Online News Editor
THE Government is working on introducing more perks to curb brain drain within the health sector which include monetary and non-monetary incentives.
Over the past few years, the country has seen the increase of emigration by health care personnel which has grossly affected the overall performance of the health sector. Speaking after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the Inter-Ministerial Committee had identified the causes of the brain drain in the health sector and come up with holistic ways of stemming it.
“To stem the brain drain a committee was therefore set up to look holistically into the following issues: mechanisms to accelerate provision of non-monetary incentives, such as staff accommodation, transport, vehicle loans, canteens and cafeterias, and wifi-facilities connectivity; measures to improve the remuneration of tutors in nurses training colleges and administration of nurses training colleges; judicious adjustment of monetary benefits; and addressing the disparity between the urban and rural health personnel incentives in order to attract personnel to rural areas,” she said.
Minister Mutsvangwa said that the Government was also pursuing bilateral agreements with destination countries for local health professionals within the World Health Organisation framework.
Meanwhile, the Minister revealed that daily average of new Covid-19 cases in the country dropped to 10 per day from 19, attributing this to the comprehensive response by the Government.
“There has been a general decline of Covid-19 cases reported in schools. The Ministry of Health and Child Care remains on high alert to contain any surges in Covid-19 cases in learning institutions.
“Cabinet advises the nation that as of 11 October, 2021, a total of 3 176 744 people had received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and 2 417 442 their second across the country. This translates to a national coverage of 37,3 percent for the first dose and 28,3 percent for the second,” she said.
