adminPamela Shumba Senior Reporter
THE country is grappling with a serious shortage of forensic pathologists, with only two covering Matabeleland region, the Midlands and Masvingo provinces. Health and Child Care Deputy Minister Aldrin Musiiwa told MPs on Wednesday that the shortage of pathologists has been a major challenge since 1980, forcing the country to rely on expatriates from India, Tanzania, Nigeria and Cuba.
“Pathologists specialise in different sub-specialties such as Forensic Pathology, Histopathology, Haematology, Microbiology, Chemical Pathology and Transfusion Medicine. The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is able to train histopathologists who among other things are the experts who diagnose cancer. There are two histopathologists in Bulawayo, one based at United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) and the second one based at Mpilo Central Hospital.
“These two cover the five provinces of Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Bulawayo, Midlands and Masvingo. Harare has three histopathologists who are based at Parirenyatwa Hospital and are responsible for training and service for the other five provinces of Manicaland, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland West and Harare,” said Musiiwa.
He said while the pathologists can also handle minor forensic cases, the major ones such as in cases of murder and decomposed bodies require the expertise of forensic pathologists.
“Training is not yet locally available for the other sub-specialties. However, there’s one haematologist based at Mpilo Central Hospital and four in Harare who are lecturers with the UZ. They’re planning to commence post- graduate training as well.
“We currently have three Cuban forensic pathologists in the service with two based in Bulawayo and one based in Harare. The nature of forensic pathology is that it’s a medico-legal specialty and the pathologists have to testify in court on very contentious life and death cases such as murder,” said Musiiwa.
He said Zimbabwe’s legal system is adversarial in nature and the atmosphere in courts is very hostile.
Musiiwa said in other jurisdictions, forensic experts are protected through the creation of the office of a coroner to create a buffer zone between the forensic experts and the courts. The deputy minister said consultations between the Ministry of Health and Child Care; the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs have been conducted over the last two decades resulting in Cabinet in 2014 approving the enactment of a coroner’s legislation.
“As Ministry of Health and Child Care, we were promised by the Office of the Attorney General that the draft Coroner’s Bill would be ready for consultations by the end of December 2015. However, that didn’t materialise and we are still waiting,” said Musiiwa.
He urged Parliament to assist in expediting the passing of the Coroner’s Bill.
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