Zimbabwe’s Parliament has sounded a national alarm over the rapid rise of diabetes, with legislators warning that the country is confronting a “silent pandemic” that is claiming lives, deepening poverty and placing mounting pressure on an already strained healthcare system.

The issue dominated proceedings in the National Assembly on April 30, 2026, where Members of Parliament across party lines delivered rare bipartisan consensus, calling for urgent and coordinated government action to confront what they described as a deadly but underfunded public health emergency.

Moving a motion on equitable diabetes care, Citizens Coalition for Change legislator Concilia Chinanzvavana said the disease had evolved from a marginal concern into a nationwide crisis affecting Zimbabweans across all age groups.

“Diabetes is no longer a peripheral health concern; it is a growing public health emergency affecting our children, our working population and our senior citizens,” she told the House.

Chinanzvavana warned that the disease is spreading across both rural and urban communities, quietly undermining productivity, increasing household poverty and exerting sustained pressure on the country’s health delivery system. She highlighted the particularly vulnerable position of children living with Type 1 diabetes, stressing that lack of access to insulin remains a life-threatening challenge.

“No child in Zimbabwe should die because insulin is unavailable and unaffordable,” she said.

Supporting the motion, Dzivarasekwa MP Edwin Mushoriwa described diabetes as a deadly condition often ignored until complications become severe.

“Diabetes is not a disease that we can joke with… it is very deadly… a person can actually fall to the ground and die,” he said.

Lawmakers warned that many Zimbabweans remain unaware they are living with the disease, with symptoms such as excessive thirst, fatigue, poor vision and slow-healing wounds frequently overlooked, resulting in late diagnoses and preventable deaths.

MPs further noted that diabetes is increasingly affecting younger populations, driven by changing diets, sedentary lifestyles and rapid urbanisation.

Debate in the House also highlighted the heavy financial burden faced by patients, many of whom struggle to afford lifelong treatment that includes insulin, testing equipment and specialised nutrition.

Goromonzi West MP Beatrice Karimatsenga Nyamupinga called for free access to diabetes medication, describing treatment costs as a matter of survival for many households.

“Those injections are expensive… there are many accessories required to monitor sugar levels… it is not easy to be diagnosed with diabetes,” she said.

Women’s Quota legislator for Murewa District Lilian Zemura, who disclosed that she is living with diabetes, offered a personal perspective on the financial strain associated with managing the condition.

“Managing diabetes often requires regular medication… these costs can be overwhelming… it is unacceptable to suffer in two ways, enduring the pain of injections while also facing exorbitant prices,” she said.

Dangamvura-Chikanga MP Prosper Mutseyami framed diabetes as more than a health challenge, warning that its long-term effects threaten national economic growth and development.

“This is not merely a health issue. It is a national development crisis… a silent pandemic that is devastating Zimbabwean families,” he said.

He cautioned that untreated diabetes leads to severe complications including kidney failure, blindness and amputations, all of which carry significant social and economic costs.

“A nation cannot industrialise when its workforce is quietly being weakened by this chronic disease,” Mutseyami added.

At the centre of the debate was a proposal to establish a Parliamentary Diabetes Working Group aimed at coordinating policy responses, strengthening oversight and ensuring sustained national attention to the disease.

Legislators argued that parliamentary initiatives previously established for HIV, tuberculosis and cancer had produced measurable results and that diabetes now requires a similar level of urgency. 

MPs also proposed exploring innovative financing models, including a dedicated diabetes levy, to ease the financial burden on patients and improve access to treatment.