Online Reporter
Farirai Machivenyika-Senior Reporter
GOVERNMENT has distributed anaesthetic and digital X-ray machines to 25 rural district hospitals countrywide as part of efforts to improve service delivery at health institutions in outlying areas, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora has said.
This comes as the procurement of CT and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan machines for the same institutions is underway.
Apart from that, the Government has also installed tracking devices on vehicles distributing medicines from the National Pharmaceutical Company warehouses to ensure they reach their intended destinations.
Dr Mombeshora disclosed this in the National Assembly on Wednesday while responding to questions from parliamentarians on what the Government was doing to improve the availability of medicines and general service delivery at public health institutions.
“We have a budget of US$44 million which is meant for buying such medication. Out of that, we have received medication amounting to US$11 million, which is being taken to clinics and hospitals so that our people receive medical attention.
“We also have plans for empowering those who are in the districts with machines to take blood samples and X-rays so that they do not travel long distances going to Harare and Bulawayo. For the first 100 days of the year, we have distributed anaesthetic machines and digital X-rays to 25 hospitals. We have also empowered maternity waiting homes to the same 25 that I have mentioned earlier,” Dr Mombeshora said.
He added that the hospitals would also receive CT and MRI scans by year-end. “Now we are on the second phase where we are targeting rural hospitals. There are 25 district hospitals which are going to receive new X-ray machines, digital X-ray machines and also theatres for operations. This is quite pertinent because it is going to benefit pregnant women who have been facing challenges with travelling,” said Dr Mombeshora.
He said they are now able to do caesarean sections in different districts. “These are some of the steps that we are taking and in large hospitals, we have bought big machines which are meant for treating cancer-related ailments at Mpilo, Harare and Parirenyatwa hospitals.
“The other step is, we anticipate that by the end of the year, we will be done and this is going to be taken to all provinces, the installation of CT scans and MRI scans. We are doing this to decentralise our healthcare so that people have access to healthcare in different districts,” Dr Mombeshora said.
The minister added that Treasury had promised US$3 million by the end of this month for the purchase of medicines for chronic illnesses like hypertension and diabetes.
In the long term, he said, Government would want to increase local production of medicines. “We have 14 companies that are manufacturing medication here in Zimbabwe. Two are manufacturing medication for animals, but the rest are manufacturing for people. These companies do not have the capacity to provide adequate stocks of medication. The cumulative percentage is 13 percent of the required medication that is produced by local companies.
“We are working together with the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Finance to empower our local manufacturing companies so that they will be able to manufacture adequate stocks of medication,” Dr Mombeshora said.
