He
made
the
remarks
in
the
National
Assembly
on
Wednesday
while
responding
to
questions
about
how
funds
from
the
sugar
tax,
introduced
last
year,
have
been
used.
Mombeshora
said:
“As
the
Ministry
of
Health
and
Child
Care,
we
have
awarded
tenders
to
two
companies
for
Parirenyatwa
and
Mpilo
hospitals.
In
total,
we
spent
US$27.5
million.“We
submitted
to
the
Ministry
of
Finance,
Economic
Development
and
Investment
Promotion
the
necessary
documents
for
them
to
pay
the
30
percent
deposit
as
per
the
agreement
and
in
accordance
with
the
suppliers’
instructions.
The
suppliers
indicated
that
these
are
costly
machines.”
Mombeshora
said
contracts
with
the
suppliers
have
already
been
signed,
and
it
has
been
more
than
two
months
since
the
agreements
were
finalised.
He
added
that
it
is
now
up
to
the
Ministry
of
Finance,
Economic
Development
and
Investment
Promotion
to
release
the
funds
so
that
the
machines
can
be
installed.
Mombeshora
said
the
suppliers
have
indicated
that
the
machines
will
be
manufactured
and
installed
within
36
weeks,
and
the
government
expects
them
to
be
operational
by
December.
The
minister
also
said
the
government
is
now
in
the
second
phase
of
procuring
equipment
for
provincial
hospitals,
including
CT
scanners,
ultrasound
machines
and
MRI
scanners.
The
relevant
tenders
are
expected
to
be
completed
within
two
months.
Meanwhile,
Mombeshora
told
Parliament
that
the
Ministry
has
acquired
eight
mobile
medical
vans,
which
will
be
deployed
across
the
provinces
to
provide
free
health
check-ups
and
early
cancer
screening
services,
including
tests
for
prostate
and
cervical
cancer.
He
said:
“I
am
confident
that
clearance
will
be
completed
next
week.
We
have
already
sent
a
team
to
retrieve
them
from
Mozambique.
These
vans
will
test
both
men
and
women,
starting
with
prostate
cancer.“Cervical
cancer
predominantly
affects
women,
so
we
have
vehicles
that
will
be
testing
both
genders.
It
will
no
longer
be
just
women.“We
are
improving
bit
by
bit.
We
aim
to
reach
a
point
where
everyone
can
be
tested
for
free.”