By Brighton Chiseva
BULAWAYO – The CIMAS Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vulindlela Ndlovu has urged Zimbabwean citizens to invest in health care insurance the same way they do in funeral policies.
His call comes at a time when health experts said Zimbabweans were investing more on funeral cover compared to health.
Reports indicated that 30 percent of the population had some form of insurance and of that number, 83 percent was on funeral cover while less than 10 percent is on medical cover.
Addressing journalists after a tour of the CIMAS facilities in Bulawayo on Friday November 22, Ndlovu said they were working around the clock to make sure health insurance services are affordable to cater for all social classes.
“I know people complain about shortfalls but I want to tell you that we are working around the clock to make sure it becomes comes affordable. For me coverage is important, because official statistics from AHFoZ indicate that less than 10 percent of the people are covered.
“I think it’s even less; we want more people to be covered, we need to take control of our health. There is this thing that we are quite happy to take funeral policies but not health policies, so we are spreading the message so that can we cover as many people as possible,” said Ndlovu.
He said at Cimas they were prioritizing that their members live a happy and healthier lives and urged people to join the service early, saying they were there to inspire healthier communities by providing global standard health and wellness solutions.
“It’s all about making sure our members live longer, happier healthier lives. Our focus is in that living healthier which is why we put emphasis on how we can improve health outcomes. We are concerned about the cost of health care in Zimbabwe, yes we need to put our heads together and see how we can improve access to health care.
“Health is not about because I can afford it or I have money, of course we expect the public sector to look after us but as a developing country, we do not have those resources. Let us be practical rather than mourn all day saying these are not working or that there is no medicine. We as the private sector are saying let’s do something about health and that is what Cimas is all about,” said Ndlovu.
He said as Cimas, they could not answer all the questions on health but at least one should have the medical aid card which gives them a starting point in accessing health care.
“As Cimas, we cannot answer all the questions but my experience is that with that medical aid card, at least you have something where you can start from. At least you can get into a hospital and get attended to,” he said.
He also said the media should play its role of making sure that they were accountable as an organization saying the media should encourage them where they do things right and put whatever they do out there as it is.
The group Chief Operations Officer (COO) Thando Kembo said they were relying on the media to tell people the services they were offering which makes Cimas outstanding.
She said there were statistics that people were living longer so they were inspiring healthier communities and said Cimas was different from others as they were not just funders.
“Our purpose is to inspire healthier communities and provide global standard health solutions. We cannot be compared by other funders because we are not just a funder but we are into wellness and healthcare. There are statistics that people are living longer and Africa will have the biggest number of people over 65 by 2050.
“At Cimas we say if you want to live longer, you want to be healthy and happy, that is why we focus and invest in health care so we are relying on your influence as the media to get people to join us,” said Kembo.
Journalists from various media organizations in Masvingo, Midlands and Matabeleland toured the group’s Medlab, the dental unit, Cimas clinic and the pharmacy.
