Online Reporter
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Matabeleland South Bureau
GWANDA Provincial Hospital recently received medical equipment and sundries amid revelations that Matabeleland South Province has this year attended to 580 victims of road traffic accidents.
Of the 580 victims, Gwanda Provincial Hospital has attended to 130.
Speaking recently, during a handover of medical equipment and sundries to the hospital by the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) and Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ), the Provincial Medical Director, Dr Andrew Muza said this high figure calls for the need for health facilities to be well equipped.
He said a well-resourced health facility is crucial in the recovery of patients.
Dr Muza said the province has a total of 153 formally registered public facilities that include 10 hospitals that serve a population of about 750 000. He said all these facilities are supposed to refer patients to the tertiary-level hospital, which is Gwanda Provincial Hospital, for more advanced care by the specialists, who are stationed at the health facility.
“This facility is supposed to offer the highest level of care within the province in its various departments that offer unique services. The hospital currently has specialist services in obstetrics and gynaecology, general surgery and orthopaedics. Other critical departments include a renal unit, maternity ward and casualty department, amongst others.
“One of the critical services that we offer at the institution is emergency services, where we attend to various medical emergencies that include accidents, mainly from road traffic accidents. Gwanda Hospital is located along the Bulawayo-Beitbridge Road, which is an important traffic corridor from South Africa to Victoria Falls and Zambia,” he said.
Dr Muza said the province also has the busy Beitbridge-Masvingo Highway.
The province also has a network of railway lines that pass through it and the provincial medical director said this unique position puts the province at high risk of road traffic accidents and rail accidents.
“Our province has attended to about 580 victims of road traffic accidents in 2025 and about 1 380 in 2024. Gwanda Hospital attended to about 130 accident victims in 2025. These high figures show the burden that the health system carries whenever there is a failure in the transport sector.
“When an accident happens, no one plans for it and most of our patients will not have the money to spend out of pocket to meet health care expenses. For this reason, we need to have robust health systems in the public sector that can attend to patients without having them incur catastrophic health expenditure,” he said.
Also speaking during the ceremony, Zinara board chairman, Dr George Manyaya said the donation is a culmination of a thoughtful process by Zinara and the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe after noting the ever-increasing cases of carnage on the country’s roads.
Many of these accidents result in severe injuries that require medical care.
In a speech read on his behalf by acting TSCZ board chairman Mr Lawrence Musendekwe, the board chairman Dr Kura Sibanda said the first 60 minutes after a road crash are crucial hence the need for quality health care.
The donation comes at a time the Second Republic has shifted its development focus to improving the country’s health sector, following President Mnangagwa’s impromptu visit to two of the country’s biggest health institutions where he came face to face with the challenges bedevilling the sector. — @DubeMatutu.
