THE nation got excited to hear that President Emmerson Mnangagwa paid impromptu visits to Parirenyatwa and Sally Mugabe hospitals.
It was widely reported that the President wanted to garner first-hand information about the state of affairs at public hospitals. I salute him for the intervention.
That was very much welcome, especially at this juncture when things seem upside down at many healthcare facilities.
When Youth minister Tinoda Machakaire blew the trumpet about the collapsing health delivery system, daggers were pointed at him for multiple reasons.
Many said why did he choose to spill the beans in public, yet he could have simply raised the issue in Cabinet he attends every Tuesday. There was later a barrage of hypersonic missiles from people like the Health deputy minister Sleiman Timios Kwidini, who overzealously stated that patients were very happy with the services they were receiving at public hospitals. That was the most embarrassing and irresponsible statement that I heard on our health service delivery this year.
Four weeks down the line, the President pays a surprise visit to the same hospitals previously described as offering splendid and top-notch services and it was no secret that he was flabbergasted by what he saw. Presidential spokesperson George Charamba was candid about it, describing the situation in hospitals as dire, a scenario that the deputy minister could simply have highlighted to the nation. How can problems be solved when they are concealed in a bucket? One wonders why people want to gain political favours by lying even to the head of State. In ethical countries, such shameful and dastardly acts warrant resignation and disappearance into the wilderness for good.
It is no secret that the health sector is in shambles and, therefore, requires intensive resuscitation if it is to stand on its own. The problems are everywhere, starting with corruption in student nurse recruitment, where the poor applicants have a mountain to climb if they want to enrol for training.
It is very sad indeed. There is mass exodus of trained and experienced staff, there is obsolete equipment in theatres, the general hospital infrastructure is in a sorry state and this can be attributed to poor health financing, general neglect, and maladministration.
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One cannot blame the Health minister for a collapsed ceiling at Parirenyatwa Hospital, yet the hospital has a whole leadership structure. Why are the hospital directors driving expensive top-of-the-range vehicles, yet tiles are broken at the same institutions?
I always wonder if the selection of management was based on meritocracy or it was simply because of patronage, favouritism, cronyism or nepotism! Many of our people are suffering and dying in silence from diseases that can be treated in this day and age.
Cancer patients are not getting adequate treatment in the country because of the limited availability of treatment options. For radiotherapy, Zimbabwe has been using the Linear Accelerator Machine, which delivers external beam radiation therapy. On average, the entire set of a Linear Accelerator Machine costs about US$3 million, meaning that with just US$30 million realised from the sugar tax in 2024, the country can install 10 such machines. Where are we going wrong, and who is responsible for this mess? Who is diverting money from taxes like airtime tax, sugar tax, Aids levy to the extent that we become grounded as a country? If you find the biggest referral hospitals running short of water, then there is a calamity that needs radicalism to solve. It is my prayer that the government tackles corruption head-on, as a lot of money is siphoned via inflated tenders for the benefit of individuals who live lavish lifestyles, yet about 80% of the populace is languishing in poverty.
We should resuscitate our health delivery system sooner rather than later.
- Johannes Marisa is a medical practitioner who is the current president of the Medical and Dental Private Practitioners Association of Zimbabwe.
