adminbeing funded by the donor community, an official has said.
The National Pharmaceutical Company (Nat Pharm) business development manager, Mrs Miriam Rungwende, said financial resources constraints was a stumbling block that had handicapped Government’s efforts to bail out critical companies.
“Finance is a problem and Government has no money to afford the country to purchase the much needed drugs.
“We are, however, currently as the pharmaceutical industry, depending on donors who are providing most of the drugs to the country and we allocate the drugs according to consumption of different areas,” she said.
Mrs Rungwende expressed optimism that the liquidity situation in Zimbabwe would improve as a number of private and public entities were showing signs of recovery from economic turmoil the country went through over the past decade.
“As an industry, we can not say we are failing to supply the domestic market because donors have lessened the burden as 98 percent of the drugs are coming from the donor community. Just like any other sector, the economic condition Zimbabwe went through in the recent past has also affected the pharmaceutical sector,” she said.
She said as a company their vision was to be the first choice supplier of medicines and medical supplies to health institutions in the country.
“Our mission as NatPharm at the moment is to procure, warehouse and distribute quality affordable medicines and medical supplies to all health institutions through a dedicated and motivated workforce.
“We also want to see health standards improving in the country because to achieve economic growth, there has to be a healthy populace that can effectively execute their duties.”
Mrs Rungwende said among other fundamentals, industrial productivity was also being stalled by high rates of absenteeism at workplaces due to illness or inefficiency caused by lack of concentration as a result of pain.
“These kinds of challenges result in low productivity ratios at companies and can result in losses which are not good for any business.
“If there is enough medicine in the country, even death rates can be reduced and as a sector, we are always striving to do that,” she said.
Meanwhile, patients in Esigodini are being forced to come to Bulawayo for treatment as the district’s hospital has gone for years without a doctor.
Residents and patients from Esigodini who spoke to Chronicle on Friday said they were spending a lot of money travelling to Bulawayo for treatment, a situation they said needed to be addressed immediately.
Mrs Thembekile Nyoni from Habane suburb, said the hospital was not different from a clinic, as there were no doctors to treat patients.
“The hospital in Esigodini is just like a clinic where patients can get primary health services. When one needs a doctor, they have to travel to Bulawayo, which is a disadvantage for patients, as they have to spend a lot of money to travel,” said Mrs Nyoni.
“The situation has been like this for a long time such that people do not bother going to the hospital anymore when they know that their situation needs a doctor. Patients are spending more than $4 for a single trip to Bulawayo from Esigodini, which is beyond the reach of many.”
Mrs Nyoni appealed to the Government to do something about the situation, saying life would be better if they had a doctor.
“The problem with travelling to Bulawayo is that sometimes patients have to travel several times for treatment, which means they have to spend more money or look for accommodation in the city.
“We want to go back to the situation where we would get health services under one roof. May the Government do something to improve the situation,” said Mrs Nyoni.
The Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr Henry Madzorera expressed ignorance about the situation at the hospital, but acknowledged that the ministry was facing numerous challenges.
“I do not know that there is no doctor at Esigodini Hospital, but what I can tell you is that the ministry is facing many challenges which include limited human resources.
“Although the situation is better than it was in 2008, we are not yet where we want to be as a ministry,” said Dr Madzorera.
He said the ministry needed more nurses and doctors, but it was unfortunate that the ministry currently did not have the capacity to hire them.
“Most hospitals in the country need more nurses and doctors but we cannot hire them at the moment due to limited funds.
“In most cases, you will find that a health institution which has an establishment of eight doctors has two doctors only, which means overworking on the part of the doctors and deterioration of general services,” said Dr Madzorera.
Online Reporter