adminRumbidzayi Zinyuke Manicaland Bureau
Rotary International has pledged to donate equipment, machinery and train a team of specialists for an eye facility earmarked for Mutare Provincial Hospital.
The organisation will offer free heart surgeries to 10 children, five of whom will be chosen from Mutare, as part of the initiative to reach out to the less-privileged.
Speaking at a farewell cocktail for the Zim-India Vocational Training Team (VTT) medical mission at the weekend, the organisation’s past president Mr Rajendra Saboo said the donation would only be made if the Ministry of Health and Child Care built an eye unit at the hospital.
Rotary brought in 20 specialist doctors who were providing free surgical operations to patients at the hospital.
The mission, which ended last Friday, surpassed its target of 1 500 patients to reach 2 668 patients in one week.
“If you manage to send 10 children from Zimbabwe, of which five should be from Mutare, to India with their guardians and pay their fare, we will be able to give heart surgery free of charge,” said Mr Saboo.
“We will make another donation if the Health Ministry can build a facility in the hospital for an eye clinic.
“We will provide the equipment; microscopes, machinery and all that is required. And we are also prepared to facilitate training for the doctors, who will be running the clinic, in India.”
Mr Saboo said the organisation would donate an elevator to ensure that patients can access the first floor of Mutare Provincial Hospital without having to use the stairs.
He said Rotary International sought to connect the world and affirm that despite being of different race or origin, everyone was the same.
Manicaland Provincial Affairs Minister Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba commended the Rotarians for their commitment to reaching out to the people in Zimbabwe who could not afford surgical operations.
“When we were preparing for this mission, we thought it was a Manicaland Province project,” she said. “Little did we know that it was going to stretch out to all Zimbabweans. It turned out that so many people came from all the 10 provinces of Zimbabwe to receive this gift of a new lease of life.
“I witnessed conditions that were so scary and had it not been for this mission, most of the people would have lost their lives sooner than later. With the kind of ailments they had, they were not going to afford the specialist services required.
“On behalf of the people of Manicaland, the people of Zimbabwe, on behalf of my principal, President Mnangagwa, and indeed on my own behalf as Minister responsible for Manicaland, I can never thank you enough.”
Indian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Rungsung Masakui commended the Rotary mission which he said was a sign of the cooperation that has always existed between the two countries.
He said the two governments were engaged in several agreements which would benefit Zimbabwe’s pharmaceutical and health sectors.
A consignment of medical supplies worth US$300 000 was delivered last year and Mr Masakui said two more tranches were on their way.
“In 2019, US$300 000 worth of medicines came in, as we speak the three tranches of the $2 million worth of medicines is on the way,” he said. “The first and second dispatches have been made and the third tranche of $1,6 million is in the process of obtaining and this will be dispatched.
“In another month or two, all these medicines will be in Zimbabwe. There has been talk on negotiations between Ministry of Health and agencies in India so that there is sustained supply of medicines at a cheaper rate from India to Zimbabwe.
“As far as the hospital facilities are concerned, there is Ekusileni Hospital in Bulawayo where an Indian party has been awarded to come in and run that hospital. In April, those principals will come in to explore the possibility of how it can be started.”
Online Reporter