Chronicle Editor
Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, Senior Health Reporter
ZIMBABWE has lost over 4 000 healthcare workers since last year, a situation exacerbated by the illegal sanctions imposed on the country that continue to stifle the growth of the economy.
Health service delivery is reeling under sanctions which have rattled Zimbabwe for close to 22 years now.
Zimbabwe trains some of the best medical practitioners in the world, a development which puts the country on the world map.
The effects of the sanctions are making it impossible for medical personnel to carry out their duties in a conducive environment and this is impacting negatively on specialist healthcare delivery.
The national fiscus has not managed to be in line with the Abuja Declaration of 2001 which calls for all African countries to allocate at least 15 percent of the national Budget to the health sector.
Due to prolonged underfunding, health workers have exited the country for greener pastures. Many health institutions are understaffed and a lot of experienced workers are leaving the country en masse.
With the exodus of skilled medical personnel to other countries in search for greener pastures, the generality of Zimbabweans are bearing the brunt of the weakened health system.
Hospital equipment has not been in use for some time and spare parts used to come from the suppliers from Britain, the US, Canada and many other European countries. Sanctions derailed the repairs of a lot of equipment as direct purchasing is prohibited by many Western countries.
Banks that were placed under sanctions like ZB Bbank could not transact on their own and in 2017, Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (CBZ) was slapped with a US$385 million fine by America Office of Foreign Assets Control for transacting on behalf of ZB Bank.
Over the past few years, disease burden in Zimbabwe, just like other countries has worsened with non-communicable diseases becoming more prevalent thereby increasing need for specialist healthcare services.
Cancer, heart diseases, hypertension, arthritis, fibroids and diabetes are the most prevalent diseases forcing citizens to seek medical services outside the country.
Prior to sanctions, clinics, public hospitals and rural health centres, which largely focus on maternal, neo-natal and child health had adequate medical supplies, ambulances and qualified personnel.
In the 1990s, it was estimated that 85 percent of the population had access to health care.
An estimated 20 000 Zimbabwean citizens have spent $4 billion on medical tourism over the past decade mostly in India which translates to $400 million each year or $20 000 per person.
In an interview yesterday, Health Services Board (HSB) chairperson Dr Paulinus Sikosana said sanctions have had an adverse impact on the overall performance of the economy with the health sector not spared.
He said as a result of the illegal sanctions, Government doesn’t have fiscal capacity to adequately fund the health sector.
“As the effects of the sanctions continue affecting the economy, the impact on the health sector persists with an emigration of 2 910 health workers in 2021, of which 1 772 are nurses and 180 being medical doctors. Between January 2022 and 30 September 2022, a total of 1 374 health workers left the public health sector, of which 868 are nurses and 89 medical doctors,” said Dr Sikosana.
“The vacancy rate in the Ministry of Health and Child Care is at 14 percent largely due to attrition and under production from institutions that train health workers, which are also affected by emigration.”
Dr Sikosana said some nursing tutors left the country and opened nursing schools in neighbouring countries.
He noted that universities are also facing a critical shortages of staff and are failing to produce enough graduates to relish the losses.
Dr Sikosana said sanctions also affected the pace at which Government was retooling the health system, purchasing essential health inputs and supporting the wage bill for health workers.
“Sanctions were imposed on us in 2002 and soon after the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (Zidera), support from the international community towards the health sector declined from 13 percent in 1997 to one percent in 2002,” he said.
“Zimbabwe was also not able to access some global health and development initiatives. The suspension of European Development Fund (EDF) assistance to Zimbabwe in 2002 and the subsequent freezing of Euro 127 million and the 9th EDF program particularly affected the development and retooling of Ekusileni Hospital, which had been earmarked to be developed and equipped through these funds.”
Dr Sikosana said as a result of operating in an unsafe working environment, there was demotivation among staff.
“The economy could not support Government efforts to improve the conditions of service for the health workforce. The state of affairs resulted in a 20 percent reduction in terms of public health sector nurses between 1999 and 2000 as they left the country,” he said.
Vacancy rates in the health sector have since the imposition of sanction in 2001 been consistently high, reaching 69 percent for doctors, 61 percent for environmental health technicians, 80 percent for midwives and 62 percent for nursing tutors.
For medical school teachers, the vacancy rate is at 63 percent and over 50 percent for pharmacists, radiologists and laboratory technicians. – @thamamoe
Online Reporter