HEALTH workforce is the cornerstone of a solid health delivery system of any country, including financing, governance, service delivery, information technologies and medicines according to World Health Organisation’s 2007 building blocks.
Zimbabwe has trained highly-knowledgeable medical personnel that continues to be head-hunted by many developed countries of the world.
The last few years have seen at least 7 000 health workers migrating to greener pastures.
If nothing is done to arrest or halt what is happening, the level of brain drain will reach catastrophic levels.
The bottom line is that medical personnel is disgruntled because of uncompetitive remuneration, inadequate intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, lack of job development opportunities and the general moribund micro and macro-economic environments.
Zimbabwe was previously one of the highly literate countries in the world with a literacy rate of more than 90%.
The country has trained thousands of doctors since the first medical school was established in 1963 as an affiliate of the University of Birmingham.
Today, the country boasts 4 medical schools, the latest being Simon Mazorodze School of Medical and Health Sciences in Masvingo under Great Zimbabwe University.
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The Medical School was officially opened by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in October 2022 and had its first intake in March 2023.
This first group of students is now in the third year in which courses like histopathology, medical microbiology, chemical pathology are taught.
The students are expected to start their clinical attachment soon and a nearby hospital with available specialist facilities will make life easier for students.
Midlands State University School of Medicine makes use of Gweru Provincial Hospital, a hospital which has undergone extensive refurbishment in recent years to suit national standards of a teaching hospital.
Masvingo General Hospital was selected as the immediate teaching hospital of Simon Mazorodze School of Medical and Health Sciences.
What should now be prioritised is the upgrading and revamping of the hospital in a bid to accommodate as many specialists as possible who will include physicians, general surgeons, urologists, neurosurgeons, anesthetists, cardiothoracic surgeons, gynaecologists, ENT surgeons, maxillofacial surgeons and dentists. All these special areas will be part and parcel of the student training.
What is frustrating is the slow progress in terms of refurbishment of Masvingo Provincial Hospital, a situation which can negatively affect student training.
We do not envisage a situation where students will need to travel to Harare or Bulawayo for clinical attachments yet somebody is sitting on the Masvingo Hospital refurbishment plan.
What is stalling progress at Masvingo Provincial Hospital?
There should be thorough investigation into the nexus of the three ministries involved — Health and Child Care, Higher and Tertiary Education and Local Government and Public Works.
There should be someone sabotaging the medical school since the President had promised rapid progress and development when the school was officially opened in 2022.
The upgrading of Masvingo General Hospital will be sweet news not only for medical students but also for Masvingo province as a whole.
Medical services that used to be sought in major cities will have been decentralised to Masvingo.
That alone is a serious milestone that will save many lives.
Many surgical operations can be done at the hospital, making it very efficient in terms of service delivery.
Health and development are symbiotic in nature and it is undeniable that development occurs where there is sound health.
The training of more doctors will help to reduce the doctor-patient ratio which stands at more than 1:7 000 in our country.
The head of State should know that there is very minimal progress at Masvingo Hospital and the speed is not pleasing considering that clinical attachments will start soon.
Someone is sleeping on duty! Let us all unite for the betterment of Masvingo.
The medical school surely needs our support.
The lecturers are working flat out to deliver the best to the student doctors.
