The government has repaired an X-ray machine at Hurungwe District Hospital in Karoi town which broke down four years ago.
The absence of an x-ray at the institution was forcing patients to seek services from private health institutions.
Hurungwe district medical officer Munyaradzi Wilbur Chidaushe told NewsDay that the machine was pivotal for tuberculosis detection in patients in the Hurungwe district. Chidaushe said:
I can confirm that the X-ray machine is now working. I must hasten to say this is a relief to many accident victims along the Karoi-Chirundu Highway. They can now access X-ray services at cheaper prices than the private sector.
The machine will assist TB patients as Hurungwe’s referral hospital covers 32 outlying areas, including the Chirundu Border Post.
The repair of the X-ray machine came after the hospital recently received a consignment of TB drugs in the form of fixed-dose combination medicines (or fixed-dose combination [FDC] medicines).
Chidaushe added that with the X-ray machine now working, it’s easy to make follow-ups and curb drug resistance TB among patients.
The government has often been accused of not doing enough to resuscitate the collapsed health sector.
Critics cite the issue of cancer machines as an example of government negligence.
There are only two public facilities with the capacity to offer radiotherapy treatment in Zimbabwe and these are:
1). the Radiotherapy Centre at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, which caters for the population in the northern part of the country, and
2). the Radiotherapy Centre at Mpilo Central Hospital, designated for the Southern part of Zimbabwe.
Parirenyatwa has three (3) radiotherapy machines. However, since January 17, 2022, radiotherapy services have not been available at Parirenyatwa due to equipment breakdown. Both the spares and the engineers to fix the machinery are not available locally.
Oncocare Zimbabwe is the only private facility currently offering radiotherapy treatment in the country.