|
Newspaper Columns ~ Financial
Gazette
Zimbabwe: Health Care Delivery
Can Be Revived.
Gwinyai Dziwa
Harare — Zimbabwe's health care
delivery system is in shambles.
Several years ago, Zimbabwe's
former secretary for health,
Rufaro Chatora made some ominous
remarks to that effect.
Probably those in the corridors
of power took his intelligent
remarks as usual policy rhetoric
that deserved a perfunctory nod.
Analysing the policy agenda laid
out by Zimbabwe's health
ministry, everything looks rosy.
The wishes are fabulous and if
the aims were implemented
correctly, we would have a
superb health care delivery
system. So where is the problem?
The answer is probably
multifaceted. The capacity for
any nation to provide quality
health care services is directly
related to the country's
economy.
However, provision of good
services does not normally mean
easy access to those services if
one was to borrow the American
scenario that leaves out the
uninsured. Nonetheless the
Zimbabwean case is made worse by
a crumbling infrastructure such
that even those with resources
fail to get quality service. The
escalating costs of health care
service provision exclude the
poor. But even the rich are not
in a far better situation.
It makes little sense to go to a
clinic that does not have a
trained doctor to conduct a
proper diagnosis and recommend
an appropriate treatment. Hence,
without trained personnel, there
is no way the country can
implement an effective health
care delivery plan. So the idea
of improving working conditions
for health care workers is
inescapable.
It is mandatory for the
government to harness resources
so as to attract well-trained
nurses, pharmacists, doctors,
laboratory technicians,
technologists and other allied
health care professionals.
These workers do not need to go
to hospitals that lack the
necessary equipment, medicines
and vaccines. Again the
government and the private
sector have to make sure that
such facilities are provided.
Few years ago the former
secretary for health Paulinus
Sikosana told this writer how
enthusiastic his ministry was in
forging relations and inter-sectoral
collaboration with the private
sector in improving health care
delivery. So at least the wishes
exist. There is also an issue
that can not be ignored. The
intricate link between economic
development and health care
delivery.
On 31 May 1998, this writer
wrote in the Sunday Mail: "The
promotion of health is
intimately related to the
process of ending
underdevelopment. This
relationship is not confined to
the economic level; that is,
freeing of resources which will
then be available for the
improvement of social conditions
and thus health. It is most
importantly a political
dimension which is both
responsible for reclaiming
resources in the first place and
ensuring their direction to
areas of pressing social need."
With limited resources at our
disposal, there is need for
careful budgeting and
prioritisation. Health care must
be given high priority because
if the workforce is plagued with
failing health, the situation
continues to deteriorate.
With the AIDS pandemic ravaging
the most productive entities in
our midst, the crumbling of our
health care system must be
declared a national disaster.
Without finger pointing, there
is no doubt that some people
consider access to health care
as a luxury such as flying to
Malaysia for a summer retreat
available only to the
privileged. But that should not
be the case. Health care must be
viewed as a human need and not a
want.
A human right, not a privilege.
We must first admit that human
error might have led us to
misplace our priorities. But we
should re-examine the need to
provide services in the most
neglected areas. Poverty is one
issue that directly affects
human health. Those who live in
crowded areas with poor
sanitation facilities are likely
to suffer from air borne
infections. It is easier to
contract tuberculosis in Matapi
flats than in a spacious area
such as Kambanji.
This writer had a meeting with
the former World Health
Organisation representative to
Zimbabwe Levon Arevshatian. He
raised very important issues of
individual responsibility in
situations where collective
responsibility is at stake
In other words behavioural
control might help in reducing
chances of getting infected with
HIV than wait for some
medications from a hospital
about to close due to lack of
resources.
The same as watching one's diet
so as to avoid obesity or high
cholesterol that might lead to
heart problems.
Therefore, even though those on
borrowed authority to run our
social welfare have immense
responsibility to live to their
expected duties, we need to wake
them up when they fall asleep in
the comfort of armchair
politics.
Additional Financial Gazette Articles
by Gwinyai:
When Fashion Trends Boggle the Mind
Friends,
neighbors
come in all shapes, sizes
The
Interview You Never Heard
Health Care Deliver Can Be Revived
Human Beings are no better than animals
Is Electronic Surveillance Invasion of Privacy?
From Rural Rhodesia to Citadel of Global Capital
Emerging Leaders of a Techno-Century
Tuku Carries Zim's Cultural Torch
Return to
Financial Gazette Articles
|
