Category: Publications

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The government has a responsibility to provide accessible and supportive drug rehabilitation and counselling facilities.

UHC Day Celebrations

DRUG abuse is now a humanitarian disaster that is inflicting harm to the young generation, perpetuating violence and poverty especially among the low-income and vulnerable communities, health stakeholders have said.

Speaking to NewsDay, Community Working Group on Health  executive director Itai Rusike, said there is need to focus on social support structures.

“We can only solve our current problems that have resulted in the surging drug abuse, overdose and deaths through a public health approach. The government should invest in proven services and care to address substance abuse and mental health needs,” he said.

Rusike said there is need to also invest in youth-friendly drug rehabilitation and counselling services instead of placing the burden of care on families who lack information and tools to respond to the scourge.

“Families should get greater support from government and other stakeholders to promote communication and to help those facing drug abuse challenges. We need to prioritise prevention of drug abuse and tackle the drivers of drug abuse.

“The root cause of drug abuse in Zimbabwe is lack of jobs and enterprise opportunities, recreation facilities and opportunities for young people to participate in decisions affecting their lives,” said Rusike.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa said government would come up with tougher laws to deter drug dealers from preying on youths.

For Youths by Youths team leader, Wilbert Jena, said there was need to continue raising awareness against drug and substance use through different strategies including youth friendly strategies.

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CWGH Director Itai Rusike Joins High-Level National Dialogue on Health Financing , Switzerland

The CWGH Director, Mr. Itai Rusike, was invited to and attended a panel discussion on domestic health financing in Africa with the theme “Advancing Health Financing Reforms through Inclusive Dialogue: National Health Financing Dialogue in SADC Countries”. The event was attended by Ministers of Health, policymakers, development partners, and other CSOs. It took place on May 25th, 2023, in Switzerland.In his words he said “We are pleased to have had the opportunity to hold a productive dialogue meeting in partnership with the Parliament of Zimbabwe, civil society, and the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists. Our delegation from civil society included representatives from various constituent groups from across the country, as well as traditional leaders who serve as custodians of primary health at the community level, and community health workers who have a direct interface with the community. In Africa, community health workers play a crucial role as trusted team for health interests. The media was also invited to this meeting to help prioritize health stories and understand health financing processes. We have come together to issue a joint statement that we hope to present at the international dialogue. It is important for Zimbabwe to continue holding inclusive high-level national dialogues, and we look forward to further follow-up from Parliament and the media. Any support to push for this national level effort would be greatly appreciated.” Watch the video

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CWGH strengthens accountability for COVID-19 and equitable access to vaccines in Zimbabwe

The Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) has embarked on a project to strengthen
accountability for COVID-19 resources and equitable access to vaccines as the country battles
with the pandemic that has claimed millions of lives across the globe.
The two-year project, Accountable and Transparent COVID-19 Finances and Equitable Access to
Vaccines in Zimbabwe, is meant to stimulate dialogue through advocacy to policy makers,
decision-makers in health and social services and the media to improve accountability for COVID19 and equitable access to vaccines in the country.
Funded by the Nigerian-based Africa Health Budget Network (AHBN), the project emphasizes on
improving health literacy, health financing and financial literacy to enhance appreciation across
all levels that a stronger and more resilient health system is better placed to respond to COVID19 pandemic challenges while ensuring continuity of operations to address other health needs of
the population.
Key issues affecting access to vaccines by communities will be raised and thus generating
evidence on bottlenecks and increase national dialogue with the view to influence policy
implementation for better access to vaccines. The evidence will be used to argue for improved
domestic funding for health in order to reduce health system fragility to better address the
current public health treats while adequately handling the disease burden.
The initiative is tailored to promote community-driven compliance and adherence to
recommended public health and social measures of COVID-19 while holding government
accountable for sustainable response to the pandemic. This involves monitoring disbursements
made to the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC) ensuring that the allocated resources are
used to respond to COVID-19 and assessing measures put in place to ensure continuity of other
health services mid-pandemic.
The media will be capacitated to play a key role in the implementation of this strategy to inform
the decision makers and communities and advance the desired changes.
Zimbabwe has to date 264,127 confirmed cases, 5672 deaths and a total of 13,491,312 vaccine
doses have been administered. The government has been a major funder of the response to
Covid-19 committing at least USD$100 million for vaccine procurement. However, donors and
partners including the World Health Organization, the World Bank, UNICEF and governments
such as China, the United Kingdom have also contributed significant amounts.
However, the government has failed to convincingly account for use of funds received in
responding to COVID-19. This is the part of the wider health/financial literacy deficiencies that
require urgent addressing if the response is to benefit the intended beneficiaries.
Civil society has been on forefront demanding accountability through the various platforms that
have been made available since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) is a network of national membership based civil
society and community based organization who aim to collectively enhance community participation in
health in Zimbabwe.

For further information, please contact:
______________________
Itai Rusike (Mr)
Executive Director
Community Working Group on Health (CWGH)
4 O’connor Crescent, Cranborne
Harare, Zimbabwe
Mobile: +263 77236 3991 / 0719363991
Tel: +263-242-573285|573286
Email: itai@cwgh.co.zw
Website: www.cwgh.co.zw
“Health is Your Right and Responsibility”

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CWGH Workers day press statement

May1, 2023

CWGH Workers’ Day Statement: Government must reward health workers.

As the World celebrates the Workers’ Day today, the Community Working Group on

Health (CWGH) calls upon the government to remunerate the health workers well and

improve their working conditions to curb the current brain drain that has quickened the

collapse of the sector. Let us also make sure that health workers are provided with all

the necessary tools of the trade, health institutions are well equipped with the essential

medicines and modern medical equipment.

One of the major challenges facing the Zimbabwean’s public health care system is brain

drain. Doctors, nurses and pharmacists have left and continue to leave the country to

destinations like South Africa, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia to name just

a few. In fact, Zimbabwean health professionals are found in nearly all countries,

including non-traditional destinations such as Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Spain.

The country has failed to stabilize the brain drain, and some health facilities are

operating with skeletal staff due to lack of staff thereby overwhelming the few health

workers that have remained resulting in staff burnout and low staff morale. Health care

workers (HCWs) continue to be trained but fail to fill the posts established in the 1980s,

let alone the posts and establishment required to deal with the current population,

disease epidemiology and health and development targets. They have continued to

enrich other establishments and countries while the gap they leave in the country’s

institutions continues to glare. The current economic downturn characterized by the high

cost of food prices as well as spiraling inflation has unfortunately worsened the

situation.

As we celebrate May 1, we must remember that many workers are being injured or

dying in avoidable work-related incidents. The CWGH expresses its solidarity with all

workers in formal, informal, rural, urban and domestic employment in Zimbabwe.

_____________________

Itai Rusike (Mr)

Executive Director

Community Working Group on Health

  1. (CWGH)
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Renewed drive to dispel COVID-19 rumours, misinformation

A RENEWED drive by Community Health Monitors (CHMs) to dispel myths and misconceptions on COVID-19 has gathered momentum with people in rural Matabeleland North warming-up to vaccination against the contagious disease.

Several people who spoke to our correspondent this week in Bubi district, Matabeleland North province expressed their willingness to get the COVID-19 jab. This was after CHMs raised awareness on COVID 19, including assuring them of the safety of vaccines.

Most people in Zimbabwe, especially in rural areas, consider Community Health Workers (CHWs) as dependable sources of health information and their relationship is based on trust.

The country’s vaccination drive, which began in 2020, had been hampered by fear and mistrust associated with COVID-19 vaccines. Such fears were fuelled by rumours, misinformation and disinformation mainly spread via social media.

Chief among the misconceptions are that COVID-19 vaccines reduce sexual drive in men and result in women experiencing irregular menstruations as well as fatalities two years after getting the jab.

“I realised these were all lies,” said 24-year-old Femaline Ndlovu as he got his first jab at Balanda Business Centre in Bubi district, where local CHMs with support from Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) and the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) had organised a COVID-19 awareness campaign recently.The renewed community-centred vaccination drive is a brainchild of CWGH in partnership with the government with financial support from USAID.

Under the project, CHMs are trained to collect data (rumours and misconceptions) in their communities using the Kobo collect tool on android phones.

The data is then sent to a central hub where it is analysed and shared with other humanitarian actors. The rumours also inform community initiatives planned by the CHMs in partnership with other CHWs to increase knowledge levels and change attitudes and practices related to COVID-19 and other health issues.

Presently, the project is being implemented in Chiwundura in the Midlands, Masvingo city, Matabeleland North, Bulawayo and Mangwe in Matabeleland South.

Other than the campaigns, the CHMs also facilitate weekly sessions targeting women, youths, people with disabilities using one-on-one discussions, community platforms such as Health centre committees (HCCs) meetings and village assembly meetings and focus group discussions as well as other awareness activities where they utilise quiz competitions, drama, songs and dance.“The aim of the sessions is to respond to rumours and misinformation on COVID-19 by sharing quality information using our COVID-19 toolkit and IEC material to answer any questions from the community,” said Senzeni Nduna, a CHM from Ndovi village in Bibi district in Matabeleland North province.

Another CHM, Sifelani Tshabalala of ward 13 in Battlefields in Bubi said misinformation about COVID-19 is a serious threat to the government’s vaccination programme.

“Some men here say they cannot get vaccinated because they will not be able to satisfy their wives in bed,” she said. “This fear was so strong and it took a lot of great effort to convince them otherwise.”

Religious beliefs have also slowed down the COVID-19 vaccination uptake as some religious objectors do not allow their followers to get vaccinated against any disease. It is therefore prudent to target religious leaders as they have a strong impact on their respective groups.

“People are beginning to believe us. The fact that there are people who were vaccinated two years ago and are still healthy is a plus to us… they are living testimonies,” said Tshabalala, who takes every opportunity to talk about health

issues affecting the community even at funeral gatherings.The CHMs use an informative tool kit on COVID-19 prevention strategies adapted from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and MoHCC information packs. This has been translated into four languages; Shona, English, Kalanga and IsiNdebele to enable ease of understanding and ensure wider reach.

CWGH executive director, Itai Rusike emphasised the importance of monitoring COVID-19 rumours as it informs warning of possible disasters.

“The rumours should be investigated and only discarded when deemed as unimportant,” he said. “We need to define the rumours and fears but also for detecting public health emergencies.”

Because of fears that were associated with the vaccines, Zimbabwe failed to vaccinate at least 60% of the 10 million target population by 2021. Between January 2020 and March this year, Zimbabwe recorded 264 555 cases of COVID-19 with 5 681 deaths, according to WHO.

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Brief Post Budget Analysis 2023 CWGH

 

The 2023 Health Budget allocation of only 11% has remained largely uninspiring given that it has not addressed the critical issues that we raised in our Pre-Budget position paper. It falls far short of the Abuja Declaration Target of 15%.

Unfortunately the health budget remains grossly inadequate to address the critical needs in the health sector such as the current exodus of health workers, drug shortages, inadequate ambulances, and obsolete equipment.

The inadequate public financing of the health sector has resulted in an overreliance on out-of-pocket and external financing which is highly unsustainable.

We hope that the funds allocated will be timeously and fully disbursed to the health sector and that the Ministry of Health will also utilize the funds effectively and in a transparent manner.

I hope this will assist

Itai Rusike, Executive Director, Community Working Group on Health (CWGH)