CLAIM: Zimbabwe’s medical aid coverage crashes from 10% to 4%
SOURCE: Healthtimes
VERDICT: False
In June 2025 an online publication claimed that Zimbabwe’s medical aid coverage had crashed from 10% to 4%.
It reports that health insurance coverage in Zimbabwe has declined to a historic low, with new data revealing that only four percent of the country’s population is currently covered by any form of medical aid.
This story was also covered by other publications here.
The story further reports that, ‘The figures are drawn from the latest Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS), which paints a stark picture of declining health insurance coverage across the country. According to the survey, only 640,000 Zimbabweans out of a population of 16 million have some form of health insurance, leaving a staggering 14.8 million citizens without coverage. This includes approximately 7.36 million women and 7.52 million men who reported they were not enrolled in any medical aid scheme. The data shows that medical aid coverage is now at its lowest point in recent history, with current figures indicating a 60 percent drop from the 1.6 million people who were previously estimated to have coverage during the 2010 to 2020 period’.
However, the report itself states that a ‘total of 9,666 women age 15-49 and 4,185 men age 15-54 were interviewed in the 2023-24 ZDHS’. Though the selection criteria was designed to be representative, it is not true as claimed in the article that 7.36 million women and 7.52 million men reported they were not enrolled in any medical aid scheme.
The report by the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health survey reveals that the percentage of women on health insurance have decreased from 11% in 2015 to 8% in 2023-2024 and men on health insurance have also decreased from 12% in 2015 to 6% in 2023-2024.
The report states that, ‘The majority of women and men (92% and 94%) do not have health insurance. The most common source of insurance is through one’s employer (4.3% for women and 3.2% for men) (Table 3.9.1 and Table 3.9.2)’.
Of the 9,666 women interviewed, 8.3% had health insurance while the same was true for 6.6% of the 4,185 men interviewed.
The article’s claim that ’the data shows that medical aid coverage is now at its lowest point in recent history, with current figures indicating a 60 percent drop from the 1.6 million people who were previously estimated to have coverage during the 2010 to 2020 period’, is also not supported by the data in the report.
The report states that in 2010-11 women health insurance coverage was 7% compared to 8% in 2023-24. For men it was 9% in 2010-11 and 8% in 2023-24 (the figure for men in 2023-24 could be a typo as it is mentioned as 6.6% elsewhere on the report): ‘Trends: The percentage of women who have insurance has increased slightly from 7% in 2010-11 to 11% in 2015 and decreased to 8% in 2023-24. Similarly, the percentage of men with health insurance increased from 9% in 2010-11 to 12% in 2015 and then decreased to 8% in 2023-24.’
Other sources also do not support the 4% claim. In June 2024, the Community Working Group on Health reported that 7% of Zimbabweans have medical insurance, while 93% rely on cash payments for health care. Statista reports ‘a surge in demand’.
Conclusion
The claim by Healthtimes that ‘After years stuck at 10% Zimbabwe’s medical aid coverage crashes to just 4%’ is false as it is not supported by the source document that it quotes. The Zimbabwe Health and Demographic Survey report states that, ‘The majority of women and men (92% and 94%) do not have health insurance. The most common source of insurance is through one’s employer (4.3% for women and 3.2% for men)’. The 8% for women and 6% of men with health insurance does not translate to 4% of the total population.
The trend, according to the report, is that ‘the percentage of women who have insurance has increased slightly from 7% in 2010-11 to 11% in 2015 and decreased to 8% in 2023-24. Similarly, the percentage of men with health insurance increased from 9% in 2010-11 to 12% in 2015 and then decreased to 8% in 2023-24’. There is no evidence in the report to support the claim that ‘after years stuck at 10%, Zimbabwe’s medical aid coverage crashes to just 4%’.
