adminTanaka Mahanya Features Writer
Government’s mooted construction of 6 600 clinics will go a long way in ensuring access to health services for Zimbabweans without having to travel long distances.
Addressing a high-level meeting on Universal Health Coverage during the 74th Ordinary Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, United States of America, President Mnangagwa, said: “While we have made significant strides in ensuring that no one should travel more than 10km to reach a health service, some communities still have limited access to health facilities.
“My Government is, therefore, constructing health posts, clinics and hospitals in remote areas to address this challenge. A total of 6 600 health posts will be constructed over the next five years to modernise primary healthcare.”
Government’s move to construct clinics is in line with Vision 2030, working towards an upper-middle income economy by that year.
An increase in the number of healthcare facilities will reduce maternal mortality rate, particularly in rural areas, caused by late admissions in clinics and hospitals. It also creates an opportunity for easy access to prenatal and antenatal care for pregnant women.
Easy access to clinics creates an opportunity for universal health facilities for patients by reducing distances at the same time ensuring the right to health services. The Constitution notes in Section 29.1 that, the State must take all practical measures to ensure the provision of basic, accessible and adequate health services throughout the country.
This comes at a time when some people; mostly in rural areas are travelling distances of about 10km to access medical services. Residents from Nyandoro Village in Guruve communal lands trek for nine kilometres to access health services at Nyakapupu Clinic in the same area because the clinics are widely spaced.
In some cases, they are transferred to Guruve Hospital because the clinic would have run out of space. Speaking to The Herald, villager Felix Chimutando said: “Accessing health services is very difficult in this area, especially for expectant mothers on the verge of giving birth. We have to carry them in scotchcarts. They sometimes give birth on the way, which becomes very difficult for us.”
The United Nations prescribes a patient-doctor ratio of 1: 200 in hospitals and clinics compared to the 1: 12 000 across the country. An opportunity to choose among the many constructed clinics will reduce the doctor-patient ratio as compared to the present situation.
Signals highlight that the health sector is deteriorating as recently reported by The Herald that at least four stillbirths and one maternal death have been recorded at Harare City Council’s polyclinics, as the city is dragging its feet on the provision of power back-up facilities, which has forced its nurses to use cellphone torches during delivery.
It is, therefore, important that the Government ensures clinics are well-equipped to meet hospital standards by providing beds, drugs and adequate doctors and nurses.
Clinics should be built in such a way that, an area of at least 10km should have three clinics to minimise the distance travelled by patients.
Online Reporter