The govt of Zimbabwe should be held accountabla for deaths due to poor health service delivery 

The Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT-SA) is gravely concerned with the deteriorating service delivery in the health sector.

Source: The govt of Zimbabwe should be held accountabla for deaths due to poor health service delivery – The Zimbabwean

Patients seeking medical treatment at government-run medical facilities, particularly the poor comprised of women, struggle to be served. Apart from nurses being on strike, most of the government medical facilities have no medication whatsoever. As a result innocent lives are needlessly being lost. Mr. Obert Chinhamo the Director of ACT-SA Director urged the government to speedily address concerns raised by the health personnel and improve health service delivery.

“We are concerned that the poor continue to suffer and die due to neglect by the government. In most of the government sponsored health facilities health service delivery is very poor. Further the nurses are on strike and there seem to be no end to these quagmires because of a government which does not prioritize an investment in the health sector. This leaves the poor who can not afford private doctors fees stranded. We have thus lost so many innocent lives. I personally visited a patient in Masvingo who was very sick but the medical facility turned the person away without even giving a pain killer. The government must urgently intervene lest we continue to lose human lives. Concerns raised by nurses and doctors must be addressed. In addition all those accused of corruption must be arrested’ he says

Zimbabwe’s health sector has for a long time been facing a number of challenges. Medical staff have always been staging industrial action. Medical facilities face acute shortages of drugs. Furthermore corruption is rampant. At some point ACT-SA had asked the government to consider dealing with cases of conflict of interest in which some personnel such as doctors, nurses and pharmacists were allowed to run private businesses whilst at the same time being in the employ of the government. ACT-SA’s concern was that they were devoting most of their time in their private businesses neglecting the poor at government run medical facilities and using government resources for personal gain.