THOUSANDS of patients countrywide are in a quandary as major public hospitals are facing severe shortages of essential and life-saving drugs.
Phyllis Mbanje Staff Reporter
Health and Child Care deputy minister Paul Chimedza last week told Parliament that most district, provincial and national health institutions were operating below 40% capacity as the government was failing to buy the drugs due to a severe cash crunch.
Parirenyatwa hospital chief executive Thomas Zigora this week confirmed that the situation was indeed critical.
“It’s true we are facing a challenge of drugs. We are now operating on a hand-to-mouth basis. If we get a few dollars we buy the critical drugs. That is not a way to operate,” he told NewsDay.
Zigora said previously, the hospital would stock up and have a supply for up to two months. But due to cash flow problems they had resorted to buying whenever the need arose.
“Drugs are available on the international market, but we do not have the cash to buy the quantities that are required,” he said. Harare hospital is also said to be facing a similar crisis.
But hospital clinical director, George Vera would not comment over the phone claiming that the media had a tendency to misrepresent facts.
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“We have since changed our policy and no longer entertain interviews over the phone,” he said.
Harare hospital is one of the largest referral hospitals with a fair share of challenges which include staff shortages and equipment. The hospital was recently hailed after successfully separating Siamese twins in a historic operation in Zimbabwe.
The drug situation at Chitungwiza could not be established as the chief executive officer Obadiah Moyo was not picking up his phone.
But last week the institution was commended by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health for striving to maintain high standards.
Legislators also last week took Chimedza to task and asked him to clarify reports that patients in rural areas were dying due to drug shortages. However, Chimedza said rural hospitals were in a much better situation as most of them were operating at around 50% drug capacity.
