City to expand Mt Pleasant Clinic

Talent Gore

HARARE City Council has begun work to expand the Mt Pleasant Clinic to transform it into a solar-powered polyclinic.

It will offer a broader range of health services, including maternity care.

The initiative aims to offer relief to low-income residents in the area by providing low-cost health services. 

Specialist doctors, such as orthopaedic surgeons and physicians, will be invited to offer their services at the clinic.

The expansion also aims to improve the city’s healthcare facilities to accommodate more people and facilitate treatment for a wide range of medical conditions.

The move will help reduce the need to refer patients to quaternary-level hospitals.

Harare Mayor, Jacob Mafume, said a polyclinic was equivalent to a district hospital, and it’s critical for council to continue broadening its health services.

“This will protect our communities from infectious diseases and other diseases which need immunisation. 

“Most services at council clinics are free of charge.

“Council clinics also play a pivotal part in ARV treatment and we saw it necessary to expand these health facilities,” said Mafume.

Council health director, Dr Prosper Chonzi, said the capital has about 20 percent of the country’s population and should, therefore, have more polyclinics.

“Harare is the largest province in the country with almost 20 percent of Zimbabwe’s population and should ideally have more than 10 district hospitals,” he said.

Council polyclinics offer cheaper maternity services at a fee of US$25, and expecting mothers can access antenatal care, delivery, post-natal care and immunisation until the child is five-years-old.