Govt urged to invest in training of pathologists

David Shumba Health Reporter
Zimbabwe needs to invest more in the training of pathologists to enhance the country’s staffing levels for specialist medical personnel in public health institutions, a University of Zimbabwe health expert says.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the International Pathology Day in Harare on Wednesday, Prof Andrew Cakana, a UZ pathologist said Government should explore ways to increase the number of pathologists to enhance the country’s healthcare delivery system.

“The Government should ensure we have enough infrastructure, adequate purpose building wards and ensure our provincial hospitals have enough equipment to support the training of pathologists,” he said.

“At the moment we have nine pathologists, five histopathologists who specialise in the diagnosis of disease from examining tissue samples and cellular smears and only four haematologists who specialise in the testing of blood, blood cells and blood products and no chemical pathologists.”

Pathologists are physicians who examine tissues, check the accuracy of laboratory tests, and interpret results to facilitate patient’s diagnosis and treatment.

Speaking at the same event, University of Zimbabwe surgeon and director of Institute of Continuing Health Education, Mr Christopher Samkange, said the country also needs to open more medical schools to meet the growing demand for health services.

“The country needs to produce 400 doctors annually but we are churning (out) about 200. We need to open more medical schools in the country so that we can meet growing demand,” he said.

“A medical school was opened at NUST (National University of Science and Technology), others have to be opened at other universities around the country. We need to go to other towns and provincial hospitals and improve infrastructure that promotes the training of doctors.”

Mr Samkange said provincial hospitals should be developed in order to accommodate more trainee doctors and improve staffing levels for specialist medical personnel. Zimbabwe is grappling with a serious shortage of pathologists due to Government’s failure to offer attractive conditions of service.