Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZINA) president Enock Dongo says the dire state of the country’s public health sector is contributing to brain drain and an acute shortage of staff.
Speaking to NewsDay, Dongo said most health facilities are dilapidated which makes the work of nurses difficult. He said:
The health sector is going down and the infrastructure is not up to standard and renovations are not being done.
Complaints to access health facilities are too many among the patients and the health personnel.
There are no resources and machines are old and there has not been any purchase for the last three to four years for major hospitals.
There is a need for modern machines like X-rays and scans among others.
It is sad that in public hospitals, simple drugs like paracetamol and painkillers are inaccessible.
It becomes difficult when patients are transferred from places like Tshelanyemba, Mtshabezi, and Plumtree, among others and they don’t have relatives in the city and are told to buy medication that they don’t afford, it’s a dire situation that needs attention.
Political leaders in Mashonaland Central Province recently revealed that some locals are being forced to cross the border into Zambia and Mozambique to seek medical attention.
This is due to the high cost of medical care in Zimbabwe as well as the long distances they have to travel to get to the nearest hospital.