WATCH: Vivat Health Solutions provides free health services for men

AFTER donating basic commodities to elderly people at Ekuphumuleni Geriatric Nursing Home in Bulawayo’s Mzilikazi suburb, Vivat Health Solutions and their partners rolled out free primary health services to men on Friday at Earth Café in Bulawayo.

Vivat Health Solutions group Managing Director Thembelihle Mloyi-Ncube stated that their desire to involve males in health-conscious programmes stems from the need to inculcate a culture of self-care.

“For a long time, advocacy for women empowerment has been at the forefront of people’s minds and it’s high time to focus on men who are leaders in families. When it comes to the issues of health, I have realised that it’s now a mess to leave out the men because most households still have men as breadwinners but the same men are not taking care of themselves.

“I feel like men are too busy trying to fend for their families and end up being forgotten in the process. The idea is to encourage men to take care of themselves either from a religious or a societal perspective and we are changing mindsets and societal norms that push the idea of men being macho and in control of everything. This is not always the case and we need to break those self-destructive norms because at the end of the day, we, at some point, are all patients,” she said.

Addressing men, Tendai Daka who is the Programmes Manager for Mubatirapamwe Sober Buddy, a group whose focal point is Drug Addiction Treatment Mental Health Support said men need to be of sober habits to effectively deal with issues that might depress them.

“Many a times, men resort to the bottle when things go south. This is the very reason why we can’t solve issues and instead, escalate the situations. We need to face real-life situations head-on and stay clear of excessive drinking,” he said.

Thabani Mpofu who is NUST’s Director of Communication and Marketing said men need to congregate and have a dialogue on issues that haunt them.

“Men need to find time out of their busy schedules to congregate and discuss issues that affect us. Without having these dialogues, we will continue to have cases of depression and suicidal tendencies and we need to talk about our pressures and stress to map the way forward. We need to have a safe space where we meet as men over drinks and discuss issues that affect us,” he said.

Men from several organisations attended the session, where they received free prostate cancer screening and other health examinations.

Some of the topical issues discussed at the workshop were psychological diseases and depression, which can have devastating consequences for males who bottle up their problems.

According to statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately 280 million people in the world have depression and more than 700 000 people die due to suicide every year. – @MbuleloMpofu