‘Prioritise ARV supply to children’

Douglas Chiteka Herald Reporter
Government must prioritise the supply of anti-retroviral drugs to children as they have been neglected in favour of adults, a Cabinet Minister has said. Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa said this during the handover of new equipment to the Pediatric Wing of Harare Central Hospital by the Japanese Embassy yesterday.
“In terms of ARVs, we have started with the adults and we ignored the children and up to now there is still that gap and we need to re-address that,” he said.

“Zimbabwe is also working towards the achievement of the millennium development goal four which reads: ‘To improve and reduce maternal morbidity and mortality by 75 percent by 2015’ and goal five which reads: ‘To reduce neo-natal morbidity and mortality by two-thirds by 2015’.

“Whatever we do, we must take children as a priority.”

Dr Parirenyatwa said the country’s economy was recovering and there were still challenges that saw Government failing to maintain equipment at the hospital.

“We want to thank the Japanese,” he said.

“The equipping of the hospital, especially the theatres, goes a long way in enabling us to move towards our goals.

“We want to assure you that this donation will be put to good use and results will be seen in the near future when the young beneficiaries will grow into responsible citizens of this country.”

Japanese ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Yonezo Fukuda said his government felt concerned to rehabilitate the unit since Harare Central Hospital was one of the country’s main referral hospitals and demand for medical attention at the hospital had been very high.

“After extensive consultations and in response to a request from the Ministry of Health and Child Care, the Government of Japan, through the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), took the decision to implement this follow-up co-operation to rehabilitate medical equipment and facilities,” he said.

On Tuesday, the Japanese Embassy commissioned pediatric unit equipment worth thousands of dollars at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo, 10 years after handing over the children’s hospital to the Government.