HEALTH Minister Obadiah Moyo shared with medical practitioners his dream of having top government officials being treated locally.
After superintending over the breakdown of the country’s health delivery system, top government officials have resorted to seeking medical treatment in other countries mainly in South Africa and Asia.
Moyo told a Zimbabwe Medical Association (ZiMA) conference in Harare that his wish is to see local facilities upgraded to international standards.
“The vision of the Ministry is to see us having super specialist hospitals with all the infrastructure and equipment so that all our patients including the VIPs are treated locally,” he said.
Moyo was credited with running Chitungwiza efficiently until his appointment as Minister.
Amid constant job action by medical practitioners, Moyo promised to look into their issues including training.
“This will enable us to spruce up the hospital, bring in equipment, create theatres which have got probiotic instruments and ensure that there is continuous availability of medicine.
“We also want improved diagnostics in radiology and pathology and ensure that our members of staff are working in an environment which is conducive and that our lectures from university are training the student in an environment which has all the relevant paraphernalia necessary for training,” Moyo said.
At independence 39 years ago, Zimbabwe had some of the best medical facilities in the region but years of neglect have turned most into death traps with little in terms of equipment or medical supplies.
This has forced the rich and politically connected to seek treatment outside the country.
Currently, former President Robert Mugabe, seen as the architect of the country’s economic and political problems, is detained in a Singaporean hospital after running down the country before he was deposed by a military coup in 2017.
For years, Mugabe was treated reportedly for eye problems as well as cancer in the Far East.
Vice President and former Defence Forces Commander Constantino Chiwenga is in China battling for his life.
Chiwenga has shuttled between Zimbabwe, South Africa, India and China among other countries seeking treatment for a mysterious ailment that has been pealing his skin.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa had to be treated in South Africa after being poisoned at a Zanu PF rally in 2017 at the height of the power struggles that led to Mugabe’s removal.
