Category: Newspaper Publications

THE untenable situation prevailing at public hospitals continues to unfold with reports that post-theatre patients have to bear immense pain in the absence of painkillers, while pathologists at times failed to perform autopsies because of the shortage of gloves.
Relatives have had to endure, not only the grief of losing their loved ones, but the long wait for the autopsies to be done.
Facilities like Harare Central Hospital have no ventilators which are used in the intensive care unit (ICU) to assist people in breathing when they are unable to do so or during operations.
According to senior doctors, an 18-year-old girl whose tummy was full of puss recently died when she could not be operated on at the hospital because there was no ventilator and efforts to transfer her to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals were futile because the institution had no space for her.
Gynaecological oncologist Bothwell Guzha on Wednesday told Health minister Obadiah Moyo during a protest staged by the senior doctors at Parirenyatwa that her death was a sad reminder of how ill-equipped the hospitals were.
“I couldn’t have the patient here because all four ICU beds were occupied, the girl demised. I also lost another 18-year-old girl who had cancer of the ovary. She stayed in hospital for five weeks I could not get theatre time and an ICU bed to operate on that young girl. She died,” Guzha said brokenly.
“I work in the gynaecological cancer unit; we do not have cancer drugs. They are coming to the tertiary institution to be treated, they go away and I don’t know where they are going. They are just going home to die.”
Guzha said he feels helpless when he examines patients and makes a diagnosis, but cannot proceed with further tests because the patients have no money for the mandatory fees.
“I see patients in the gynae out-patients. I do an examination as I am trained to do and I see a lesion there I can do a biopsy because the patient has to go and pay $25 and the patient does not have the money so they go home and come back after three months,” he said.
Guzha charged that the hospital is being run like a district hospital. He also complained about the few nurses available to care for the admitted patients.
“The government allowed nurses to work for three days. (One day) I went to the ward after an operation and I realised that three of my patients had received a single pain injection and I asked the sister why this patient had not been given and they told me that there were only two nurses that were attending to 45 patients,” he said.
“The situation is not workable. We are now sick and tired of these two-week solutions.”
Harare Central Hospital acting chief executive officer Christopher Pasi said they had been experiencing challenges with their ventilators.
“We had challenges for a week or so, but now we have managed to get two to function and expect more to be resuscitated,” Pasi said.
Following these revelations by senior doctors, health stakeholders and ordinary Zimbabweans have reacted angrily to the rot in the public hospitals.
International cricketer and former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor tweeted, saying his employee had lost his new-born baby who was only three days old.
In an impassioned statement, Taylor said lack of resources at public health facilities was costing lives.
“Let us get out priorities right for goodness sake. I sincerely hope Dr Mashumba (head of paeds department, who broke down while giving an account on how babies were dying) is rewarded,” he said.
Community Working Group on Health director Itai Rusike said health sector financing should be revisited.
“If the country’s National Budget cannot adequately fund health, then there is need to find other innovative health financing strategies to domestically fund this important sector. This brings us to the issue of the health levy, which must be used to purchase medicines and sundries for the smooth running of the country’s health sector,” Rusike said.
“If there are no drugs, equipment and sundries in hospitals; where is the money collected under the health levy going? This fund must be used correctly, transparently and for its intended purpose.”

 

newsday - March 15, 2019 BY PHYLLIS MBANJE

 

The loss of lives, displacement of people, loss of livestock and crops, destruction of property and infrastructure following heavy rains and flooding caused by the recent Cyclone Idai that ravaged mainly Chimanimani, Chipinge, Bikita and Chikomba districts in Zimbabwe is a sad chapter for the nation.

The fierce and devastating storm has left in its wake a still unknown death toll as some areas are still inaccessible — the death toll is rising. It left survivors with broken limbs who need immediate medical attention, food, housing and clean water. The cyclone also affected some parts of neighbouring Mozambique and Malawi.

The fate and survival of the victims now solely depend on how the Government, friendly nations, UN agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society organisations (CSOs) and individuals mobilise resources to placate them from their current predicament.

It is a fact that people in the affected areas are facing a public health crisis of considerable proportions.

The public health facilities destroyed by Cyclone Idai have been a buffer between people and the impoverishing and fatal impacts of ill health caused by such conditions. The massive destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure is thus a major crisis for poor people in the affected communities, and leaves people starkly exposed to severe health risk, including water-borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid.

Admittedly, the impact of the cyclone is much disastrous in the context of the current shortages of medicines, obsolete equipment as well as shortages of doctors and nurses. The alarming death toll from Cyclone Idai is a warning of wider risks to health and of wider failures to manage such natural disasters.

People with chronic diseases and conditions such diabetes, cancer, asthma and HIV/AIDS will need urgent support so that they do not miss their treatment and risk developing complications. Such groups have difficulty taking medications when they do not have adequate food to eat.

Hopefully, the public health community and the Government will respond to this not only as an emergency response to the cyclone, but with a public health response and measure to rescue the public sector health system, especially the primary health care and services.

While much attention is focused on the devastating impact of the cyclone, there is also need to distribute items such as bed nets and resources for spraying to prevent malaria outbreak in the affected areas.  The local clinics also need drugs for malaria treatment so that the sick can also be treated in time. Distribution of aqua tablets to safeguard victims from water-borne diseases as most of the clean sources of water were destroyed or washed away.

In these painful circumstances, Government should urgently craft and implement a holistic humanitarian response that benefits all affected citizens regardless of race, colour, creed, gender, age or political affiliation.

The current Government intervention efforts are welcome. However, Government should intervene in a way that addresses wider public health crisis, including in the public sector health system as well as involving communities and health civil society in their planning. It should be noted that some NGOs such as CWGH have long experience and networks at community level of people with abilities to organise and support primary health care, even under harsh conditions.

The importance of national disaster preparedness and mitigation especially considering that Zimbabwe suffered another heavy loss in 2000, when the country was hit by Cyclone Eline, cannot be overlooked.

The issue of preparedness also requires the Government to capacitate fully the Department of Civil Protection Unit to ensure that when disasters like these strike, it can respond and save lives.

It is clear that many lives could have been saved had the authorities taken the Cyclone Idai warnings seriously and evacuated people from the affected areas. Very little was said on national radio, television or newspapers about the cyclone to the effect that most families were caught unawares.

CWGH, as an organisation deeply rooted in the communities, expresses its solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe will work with all stakeholders at all levels to assist the victims of the disaster both in the short and long term.

Itai Rusike is the Executive Director of the the Community Working Group on Health (CWGH), a network of national membership based civil society and community based organisations who aim to collectively enhance community participation in health in Zimbabwe.

The Herald  29 Mar, 2019 Itai Rusike Correspondent

COMMUNITY Working Group on Health executive director Itai Rusike is worried with the way the Association of Healthcare Funders of Zimbabwe imposed new tariffs without consulting stakeholders.
In a press statement released on Sunday, the AHFoZ increased the fees for doctors, dentists and all other healthcare service providers by 40 percent and hospital fees by 30 percent effective from yesterday.
In an interview, Rusike said the other parties interests should have been considered before taking such measures.
“Sadly, there was no one to represent public interest during the negotiations for the upward tariff review, so that they could make input on the charges that they are prepared to pay.
“The medical aid societies are now neglecting their main goal of providing affordable health services, securing their interest through the fees.
“Also, sadly the doctors are prepared to accept the increase, which is as well securing their interests.
He added:
“Charging exorbitant fee will make Zimbabwe fail to achieve its national health and targets, goals and international commitments such as Universal Health Coverage.”
The strategy to increase health service fees was to cater for service provider groups who require foreign currency for their day-to-day operations.

12 February 2019
Esther Madambi and Fiona Ruzha

HARARE - The Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) has condemned the obstruction of injured citizens from emergency medical services in the wake of the violence that rocked the country during the stay-away.
CWG executive director Itai Rusike expressed concern over the consequences of the current situation of violence against citizens’ rights to health and health care.
Violent protests erupted across the country earlier this week following President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s unpopular decision to hike fuel prices.
Soldiers reportedly prevented all movement by civilians, disabling those severely hurt from accessing medical facilities.
Rusike has slammed this behaviour and called upon government to ensure that citizens’ right to medical treatment are not infringed upon.
“Urgent action should be taken to prevent and deal with such acts of violence and that health services should be safe zones. The State is responsible for ensuring the right to life and access to health services, and thus the protection of health workers and clients seeking health care.
“To this end the CWGH calls for active measures to take decisive action against any person obstructing a citizen access to emergency medical services or interfering in the delivery of that emergency service,” he said.
CWGH has also urged government to take decisive action against perpetrators of violence and assault on citizens and to ensure that any victim of injury, assault or other acts of violence are afforded normal and reasonable access to emergency medical services.
“Acts of violence perpetrated against ordinary citizens, (through beatings and gunshot). Abduction and threat of physical assault are too many to list. Protection of health facilities and creation of safe zones demands some form of preventive policing,” Rusike said.
The executive director added that government should protect health facilities against invasion, intimidation of any sort or closure and ensure that health facilities constitute safe zones where intimidation cannot take place.
This comes after Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights a total (ZADHR) released a report sharing critical information on the human rights crisis in the country following the outbreak of the violent protests.
According to the report, 172 people injured were attended to. Sixty-eight of the cases were from gunshot wounds whilst the remainder were from assaults with sharp objects, booted feet, batons, sjamboks and tarmac abrasions.
The doctors’ association described the state’s response as disproportionate, pointing out how some patients were brutally dragged out of the hospital against doctors’ orders.
“ZADHR also witnessed with shock and condemnation the dragging of patients with life-threatening conditions to court. There are cases of patients who had chest trauma (haemopneumothorax) and fractured limbs (femur) that were forcibly taken from hospital to attend court despite the advice of doctors.
“ZADHR has on record that 17 individuals have to date undergone emergency surgery as they had life-threatening conditions. More cases continue to be reported to the association as many people

Nokuthaba Nkomo

JUNIOR doctors at public hospitals yesterday ended their 40-day long strike after some consultant doctors allegedly threatened to cause them to fail their internship.

By Everson Mushava/Vanessa Gonye

The Zimbabwe Hospitals Doctors’ Association, in a statement, confirmed the decision to “begrudgingly” end the job action before striking a salary deal with government.

“ZHDA is delighted to inform the membership, members of the Press and the public that the industrial action by doctors has come to an end,” ZHDA secretary-general Mthabisi Bhebhe said.
“Sadly, with no salary review, and frozen December salaries, in this rough and ravaging economic environment, it remains a dilemma how our members will report to work daily.

“Indeed, poor remuneration and the current fuel shortages remain a threat that may spontaneously hinder our members from reporting to work and discharging quality health services to patients. That being said, our members have begrudgingly resumed work with effect from today, as dialogue continues.”
Doctors have been on strike since December 1 and efforts by government to get them to return to work hit a brick wall several times.
Sources said the doctors finally made the decision to return to work after they were threatened by consultant doctors that they risked going it alone. The striking doctors were reportedly ordered to call off their strike on Wednesday as government attended to their grievances.

“If they (government) give you a pay rise today, the whole country will demand that and the government will not be able to cope,” a senior doctor involved in the negotiations said.  “The cost of living (adjustment) is coming in March. It is coming, they have promised. Consider what is there on the table and take. If you continue, if the consultant says fire them, you will come back to zero.

“Remember, you are not yet registered with the Medical Council. If you get fired, no matter what you want to do, you will never go anywhere. You would have wasted six years of training. I am pleading with you, suffer for a while.”

Community Working Group on Health executive director Itai Rusike said the dispute between the hospital doctors and government was the culmination of a build-up over the years of an inadequate balance between spending on salaries and on the resources and supplies needed for the effective professional practice of personnel.  “For the past five years or so, the doctors have been promised non-cash incentives whenever they strike, but when they resume work, those promises were not fulfilled. Instead, they got threats,” he said.

“CWGH feels that the issue of non-cash incentives such as duty-free vehicles, housing stands and opportunity for career growth has to be prioritised.”