Harare-30 April (The Herald)-Zimbabwean Vice President Joice Mujuru has called for increased research and development if service delivery is to be improved in the health sector.

She said this at the launch of Centre for Health Strategies (CHEST), a think tank on health matters, established by former Minister of Health and Child Welfare Dr David Parirenyatwa on Wednesday.

"Countries that have made significant strides in health delivery, invested heavily in research and development.

"This calls for the centre to adapt evidence-based-research strategies to steer policy and strategy direction," she said.

VP Mujuru challenged the new organisation to review current health policies and identify areas of improvement.

"It is through research that this centre can review current critical health policies and strategies with a view to improve them. As a centre, you will also be challenged to identify gaps in health policy and make appropriate recommendations to stakeholders," she said.

Economic hardships, she said, have left people concentrating on immediate requirements such as food security at the expense of a vibrant health delivery system.

She, however, said the task of the centre had been made easier through the linkages with other players in the health field, which include Government, academic and research institutions, health institutions and international bodies such as the World Health Organisation among others.

In an interview, Dr Parirenyatwa said CHEST is a private sector and bi-thinking initiative to complement Government efforts in improving the health sector in Zimbabwe.

"I came up with the idea using my experience as a doctor and then Health minister for more than 11 years to contribute to the development of health services in Zimbabwe and the Sadc region as a whole.

"We intend to establish a regional reference centre of excellence on health policies and strategies for the country and region to provide a multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary and independent ‘think-tank’ on health-related issues to be shared with all stakeholders."

Dr Parirenyatwa said CHEST would look at such issues as health policies and strategies being implemented in the country and region.

"On health policies, we are going to look at policies such as user fees charged in hospitals and policies like the exemption of these fees for children under the age of five and the elderly and assess their effectiveness.

"We will also look at strategies on, for example, HIV and Aids prevention, and monitor and evaluate policies and protocols to see what has been the result of these commitments we have made as governments.

"We would also create a database for Zimba-bwe and the region on such issues as the experts, specialists and institutions that have contributed to the health sector," he said.