Council pegs hospital fees in US dollars

It never rains for the ordinary Zimbabwean. The Harare city council has dealt another blow to its citizens after announcing that it had now pegged its hospital and clinic fees in US dollars with immediate effect. In a recent statement released on its Facebook page, the city council said patients that want to pay in local currency would have to pay at the prevailing bank rate. This essentially means that hospital fees would increase on a weekly basis for this paying in local currency as the fees will be following the rate

The new fees structure will see council charging adults US 5 dollars while children are expected to pay US 3 dollars. Martenity fees are pegged at US 25 dollars. The city council said it has decided to ensure viability and sustainability of the health system.This decision by the city fathers actually comes as no surprise considering the nature in which hospitals are hiking fees for patients.

Private hospitals have been charging exhorbitant fees in US dollars with most facilities demanding around US 600 dollars as martenity fees for a normal delivery. Elite hospitals in Bulawayo are charging as much as US 5 000 dollars for hospitalisation of Covid 19 patients.

The new announcement has caused widespread panic and most people, especially civil servants, have bemoaned that hospital costs are simply beyond their reach