HEALTH experts, economists, government officials and ordinary Zimbabweans concur that the health sector is in bad shape.
Dilapidated infrastructure, lack of machinery and drugs, brain drain, inhibitive costs and strikes by medical personnel are some of the challenges bedeviling the health sector.
What should the doctors do without adequate and efficient machinery?
Should striking doctors and other medical personnel be blamed for the loss of life in most medical institutions?
Hospitals have become death traps.
Currently, junior and middle level medical doctors are on industrial action over general poor working conditions, including pathetic salaries.
However, Norma Murwira has applauded government for its endeavor to contain HIV/Aids, saying it was sad that Zimbabwe is dependent on donor funds to fight the epidemic.
“We give credit to the government for the manner in which Zimbabwe has managed to deal with HIV/Aids, with the prevalence rate getting lower and lower. But the danger is that HIV treatment is funded by donors,” she said.
“What will happen if the donations dry up? Will government be able to take over? Government needs to look into this,” she added.
A Southlea Park resident said it was disturbing that senior government officials, including Cabinet ministers regularly fly to foreign destinations for medication.
There is a serious decline in the country’s health delivery system despite the fact that Zimbabwe inherited a robust health network.
Recently, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga travelled to China for medical treatment at the expense of taxpayers.
Meanwhile, millions of Zimbabweans are grappling with the high costs of procuring medication, with their lives now obviously at risk.
Chronic patients are having to fork out as much as ZW$1 700 for high blood pressure tablets and others have monthly medical bills as high as ZW$3 700, depending on the parallel market rates.
Many ordinary Zimbabweans are being turned away from public health institutions as they cannot afford private health care, where consultation fees for specialist services can cost up to ZW$1 700.
Pharmaceutical Wholesalers of Zimbabwe president Kudakwashe Chapfiko once noted that capacity utilisation for the local pharmaceutical industry had further dwindled due to increased power cuts.
“The cost of carrying out surgical procedures using alternatives such as power generators is high and less friendly. There is a serious shortage of fuel in Zimbabwe,” Chapfiko said.
Some vaccines and insulin require continuous cold storage facilities of two to eight degrees Celsius, so both wholesalers and retailers have scaled down on the storage of these medicines, prompting serious shortages on the market.