Online Reporter
Piety Mukuyu and Charles Mvundura
The Directorate of Health Services in the Zimbabwe National Army has taken it upon itself to buttress the Ministry of Health and Child Care’s efforts of ensuring a healthy nation by availing healthcare services in Dumisa, Chiredzi, as part of its humanitarian efforts, complementing the National Mine Clearance Unit (NMCU) that is also removing landmines in this marginalised area of Zimbabwe.
As part of rendering medical help to deminers stationed in this south-eastern cordon sanitaire of the Sengwe Tribal Trust Lands (TTLs), the medical team is ensuring that even the most vulnerable population receive the much-needed healthcare services.
Many communities in this area, particularly those that had been facing challenges of landmines face significant health challenges due to limited healthcare facilities. Some travel distances as far as 30 to 40 kilometres to access healthcare services.
As a mitigatory measure, the medical team stationed at Dumisa Demining Base has since bridged this gap by providing medical support in this malaria prone area.
Year-after-year since the start of the demining operations in 1980, it has been the ZNA’s norm to provide free medical care to communities they will be working with.
The team is offering free consultations, treatment to minor ailments and together with other medical personnel stationed at clinics such as Dumisa, Davata and Malipati, among other areas. Health education workshops are being carried out to raise awareness on critical issues, such as non- communicable disease, contraceptive knowledge and increasing sexually transmitted infections (STI).
“As many communities around the Zimbabwe-South Africa-Mozambique border face unique health challenges, including lack of understanding of contraceptive methods and how they work, there is a need for more awareness campaigns and workshops with the locals, educating them also on safer reproductive health practices,” said Staff Sergeant Chenjerai Ngavaite, who is leading the Zimbabwe National Army medical team.
“These issues are compounded by limited healthcare access and socioeconomic factors that leave the marginalised population vulnerable.”
He added that by educating the communities they are empowering them to make informed choices about their reproductive health.
Staff Sergeant Chenjerai also highlighted that they were collaborating with the local leadership in advocating for regular testing, calling for more resources to be availed.
Mrs Mardalina Sibanda (48), a mother of six from Chari Village expressed her gratitude to the ZNA medical team, stating that the help is important as it shortens the distance they usually travel to get medical attention.
“We are delighted by the army’s medical station that has been set up here in Dumisa. It has greatly helped us in reducing the distance we used to travel to access medical attention. In the absence of this medical station, we used to travel as far as Chicualacuala, a distance of about 45 kilometres,” she said.
Mrs Sibanda added that most of the people in the area did not have enough knowledge about contraceptives and how they work before the awareness because they live far from health facilities.
Due to the remoteness of Dumisa and the bad state of roads, most locals use donkey driven scotch carts to ferry critically ill patients to healthcare facilities. In some cases, the unavailability of an ambulance at local clinics leads to loss of lives.
