Health ministry spent zero on contraceptives in 2025, Parliament finds
Health ministry spent zero on contraceptives in 2025, Parliament finds
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The Ministry of Health and Child Care recorded no spending on contraceptives throughout 2025 despite a budget allocation of ZiG 65 million, according to a Parliament Budget Office analysis of the ministry’s fourth-quarter performance report.
The analysis, tabled before the parliamentary committee responsible for health, said the nil expenditure was “alarming given Zimbabwe’s adolescent birth rate”, warning of direct implications for maternal mortality, family planning and HIV prevention.
The findings form part of wider concerns flagged by the budget office about supply chain performance in the public health system. The analysis shows spending on drugs and medicines reached 28.7% utilisation, while maternal and child health care supplies — allocated ZiG 515 million — were utilised at 24.8%.
The budget office linked the shortfalls to weaker outcomes in key indicators. It reported an institutional maternal mortality ratio of 131 per 100,000 live births, compared with a target of 115.
The analysis also found that only 53.22% of health facilities maintained the minimum tracer medicine stock threshold, below the 60% target. Tracer medicines are a standardised list of essential drugs used as a proxy to assess whether facilities are broadly stocked; falling below the threshold is treated as an indicator of wider medicine shortages.
In addition, 82.5% of ambulances were reported to be functional during the period under review.
The Parliament Budget Office tasked the ministry to explain its specific plan to close the contraceptive supply gap and to meet the tracer medicine stock target.
The fourth-quarter report, covering October to December 2025, was submitted on 8 April 2026, beyond the 60-day deadline required under Section 33(2) of the Public Finance Management Act, the analysis noted.
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