Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. ZIMBABWE’S health delivery model is outdated, underfunded and no longer able to meet the needs of the population, leading to needless deaths, worsening national vulnerability and mass emigration of skilled personnel, it has emerged.
This was revealed yesterday by veteran surgeon and church leader Matthew Wazara at the ongoing 4th edition of the In Conversation Ideas Festival in Nyanga.
Wazara, who was speaking on Building Blocks of a Healthy Nation, said Zimbabwe once operated one of Africa’s strongest and most innovative medical systems, but has since suffered collapse across training, infrastructure, funding and service delivery.
“We have a health delivery model in Zimbabwe that is archaic,” he said.
“The last proper design of what we’re using has been there for a long time and it is failing and it’s not just failing in Zimbabwe, it is failing the whole world over and things have got to change and we need a new model.”
Wazara, who said health was the foundation of national development, stressed that no economy can function with an unwell population.
He highlighted that Zimbabwe once achieved global medical milestones.
“The only thing a person really has is their health, everything else is peripheral,” the renowned surgeon said.
“Our national prosperity requires that we have healthy citizens.
“In 1989, we were doing three cases a week of open heart surgery.
“In the last 20 years, we haven’t done fraction of that amount of open heart surgeries.”
He also pointed out that bone marrow and kidney transplants were once performed locally and that the partogram, now used worldwide to manage births, was designed at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital (formerly Harare Central Hospital).
However, he said the system had deteriorated sharply, with severe shortages, equipment breakdowns, staff flight and treatment delays that are costing lives.
“I, as a surgeon, have long waiting list of patients each month waiting for care
“If I see someone now with breast cancer, to remove the breast takes months sometimes yet it should be within weeks.”
Wazara revealed that his own salary was very poor, to illustrate the depth of the crisis.
He said Zimbabwe continues to lose skilled personnel in large numbers.
“We lose thousands of healthcare professionals per year. In 2018, we had a week when huge numbers of nurses left Zimbabwein one week
He said those who left overwhelmingly wanted to return, but were being discouraged by domestic conditions.
“I’ve never met one who says, ‘I’m so happy that I’m in Europe, and I have forgotten Zimbabwe. I’ve never met them,” he said.
On medicines, Wazara said Zimbabwe’s manufacturers are capable of producing vital drugs, but the procurement system and taxes makes it difficult for them to be comprtitive
“We have manufacturers here and incentives ought to be in place for them to kip manufacturing.Govt ought to buy locally first before supporting importers and outside manufacturers.
He called for a new health financing model, suggesting that citizens should carry medical points or credits that they use or share when needed.
For More News And Analysis About Zimbabwe Follow Africa-Press
