Zambia’s Ambassador to Germany Anthony Mukwita has disclosed that an Austrian firm has offered to finance Zambia’s cancer centre at the University Teaching Hospital – UTH with interest free loans for its upgrade.
Ambassador Mukwita said this comes after consented meetings between the mission in Berlin that also oversees Vienna on a non-resident basis with Austria and the Ministry of Health that have since culminated in an MoU signed five months ago.
Ambassador Mukwita said thousands of lives would be saved from needlessly being lost as a consequence of the scourge if Zambia agrees to proceed with the zero-rated long term ‘government to government‘ financing package.
“Studies show that dozens of Zambians die from cancer annually posing a major concern. And if we act now, we could save lives in future not only in Zambia but regionally because our centre would cater for others in the region once complete, but it all depends on the government really,” said Ambassador Mukwita.
In a statement made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT by press secretary Kellys Kaunda , the diplomat said times like now, of the COVID-19 epidemic raises the urgency for investing in diseases control such as cancer now more than ever because Zambia can ride on the international goodwill.
The Zambian envoy said that today might be COVID-19 and another time it could be another catastrophy hence investing in fighting cancer today could save lives tomorrow.
Heinz Messinger, the Managing Director of AME International in Vienna is collaborating with the embassy of Zambia in Germany and anxious to see Zambia take advantage of the “promise” for finance.
Ambassador Mukwita said losing one life from cancer is bad but dozens annually is just unacceptable when something can be done to halt the loss.
Analysts however caution that interest free financing packages need critical review as they may have some hidden costs or restrictions in terms of equipment to be purchased. Zambia has to ensure that upgrades are made based on needs analysis as opposed to availability of interest free financing.
