By Jeffrey Moyo
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AA) – At Parirenyatwa General Hospital in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, a teenage mother, Evelyn Soko, lay in the hallway clutching her critically ill child.
A thin blanket provided scant protection from the hospital’s cold, hard floors. Nurses dressed in crisp white uniforms hurried past, seemingly oblivious to the child’s constant coughing and Soko’s pleading gaze.
“I only need treatment for my child,” Soko said quietly, declining to specify her child’s ailment.
But Soko’s ordeal is not unique. Zimbabwe’s largest public hospital mirrors the desperation gripping its healthcare sector, with patients lying helplessly on worn-out beds, staring at dilapidated ceilings, and enduring an absence of basic care.
Inside one ward, elderly visitor Rachel Chauruka expressed deep sadness over her niece’s plight, lamenting the hospital’s severe lack of facilities.
“Nothing is working here, from toilets to the hospital wards. There’s no medication. My niece is just lying there without help because the staff have nothing to offer. She has a swollen tummy, and no one knows what’s wrong,” Chauruka told Anadolu.
Chauruka was particularly shocked by the meager meal served to patients – a portion of watery, boiled cabbage devoid of cooking fat, accompanied by cornmeal.
Such scenes, common across Zimbabwe’s hospitals, illustrate the dire conditions patients face every day.
Zimbabwe’s healthcare crisis is rooted in severe economic instability, chronic underfunding, dilapidated infrastructure, and acute shortages of trained healthcare professionals. Together, these factors have eroded patient care to alarming levels.
Recently, a government minister received a personal wake-up call. Youth Minister Tinoda Machakaire was left visibly disturbed after visiting a sick relative in a public hospital, prompting a public plea to President Emmerson Mnangagwa on social media.
“I visited one of our public health institutions this morning and left deeply concerned by the conditions I witnessed. What I saw was deeply moving, a clear indication that many of our people are facing serious challenges,” Machakaire wrote on X, a comment that drew sharp criticism from fellow government officials.
- Years of neglect
The crisis in Zimbabwe’s public hospitals has festered for years, largely unaddressed and frequently ignored.
At the Sally Mugabe Hospital, formerly Harare Hospital, the situation mirrors Parirenyatwa’s misery. Critically ill patients are routinely denied basic medical supplies, including painkillers and intravenous fluids.
Mavis Chirevo, a 66-year-old mother, felt compelled to remove her daughter from the hospital due to inadequate care.
“I decided to take my daughter home. The hospital has no pain medication. Nurses and doctors simply hand us prescriptions, including for gloves, demanding we buy everything ourselves before they can provide care,” Chirevo explained.
With electricity cuts frequent across Zimbabwe, hospital mortuaries have become another disturbing issue, with the stench of decomposing bodies permeating facilities like Parirenyatwa.
Inside wards, patients must cope with non-functional toilets and overflowing sanitation issues.
Cancer patient Elton Mhembere, aged 56, revealed his makeshift solution at Parirenyatwa.
“Everyone in this ward has their own bucket for bathing and toilet use. The toilets have no running water, so we fill our buckets to flush,” he said.
Over two decades of economic turmoil, triggered by controversial land reforms and mass industrial closures, Zimbabwe’s public healthcare system has gradually collapsed – to the point where essential medications and basic medical supplies have become luxuries.
The healthcare crisis has also been exacerbated by severe brain drain, driven by political and economic instability, hyperinflation, and the currency collapse.
By 2000, over half of Zimbabwe’s doctors and a quarter of its nurses had emigrated. By 2019, Britain’s National Health Service alone employed more than 4,000 Zimbabwean healthcare professionals.
Government statistics indicate that over 4,000 health workers, including 2,600 nurses, left Zimbabwe between 2021 and 2022.
Rampant corruption has further intensified the crisis. Former Health Minister Obadiah Moyo was arrested in 2020 over allegations involving the embezzlement of more than $60 million allocated for COVID-19 medical supplies, though he was acquitted the following year.
For millions of ordinary Zimbabweans like 57-year-old Dereck Chawunopa, hospitals have become synonymous with despair and death.
“I have lived with HIV for 28 years, but I refuse to be admitted to any public hospital. The terrible conditions alone are enough to kill someone through sheer stress,” he said.
- ‘Where is the money going?’
Yet, despite glaring realities, government officials continue to deny the severity of the healthcare crisis. The Health Ministry sharply criticized Machakaire for highlighting hospital conditions.
“These comments seem to be well-orchestrated efforts aimed at selectively highlighting challenges within the public healthcare system, while deliberately overlooking the critical services still being provided – often under resource-constrained conditions – and the significant progress made in recent years,” the ministry said.
When President Mnangagwa assumed power in 2017, following the military coup that deposed longtime leader Robert Mugabe, he vowed to revamp health care.
Nearly a decade later, little has changed, and on the contrary, conditions have visibly worsened.
In a rare surprise visit on Monday, Mnangagwa inspected Parirenyatwa and Sally Mugabe Hospitals and the National Pharmaceutical Company (NatPharm), the government agency responsible for medical supplies distribution.
He said the visit was an attempt “to gain a clearer understanding of our public health services.”
“Strengthening healthcare delivery remains central to my administration,” the president said on social media.
Despite such promises, medical staff remain unconvinced. A senior doctor at Parirenyatwa, speaking anonymously due to restrictions on talking to media, blamed government negligence and corruption for the perpetual crisis.
“We often operate without sufficient resources. The government seems unconcerned about the dire conditions and our patients’ suffering. Clearly, funds meant for healthcare are being stolen – otherwise, where is the money going?” the doctor questioned.
As Zimbabwe inches toward 50 years of independence, healthcare improvements remain elusive. For teenage mothers like Soko, hope grows dimmer with each passing day spent waiting in hallways.
“I don’t know if my child will ever get the help she needs,” she said softly. “All I can do is wait.”