MAKOKOBA legislator Tshinga Dube last week held a health expo in his constituency, where volunteer doctors and nurses provided free treatment to residents during the two-day outreach exercise.
By NQOBANI NDLOVU
The health expo was held on Friday and Saturday, with Dube saying that he has been holding the event once every few months since last year.
The health expo was held at Efusini, an open space in Makokoba high-density suburb.
The former War Veterans minister said the idea behind the holding of the health expo was out of a realisation that the majority of residents in his constituency could not afford basic health care services.
“We realise that Makokoba is a constituency where the majority are old people, orphans and the unemployed who cannot afford health care services. They go to a clinic or hospital and are given a prescription, but fail to purchase the drugs and simply suffer in silence. They get sick again, the same process again, it’s just a vicious circle,” Dube told journalists on Saturday.
Bulawayo Provincial Affairs minister Angeline Masuku on Saturday attended the health expo, and adopted an orphan.
Masuku promised to pay tuition fees for the boy who is in primary school.
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“In as much as we are financially handicapped to assist, we have said let’s see how we can assist each other as a community and hence this health expo. We source drugs of different ailments, and once we have sourced the drugs we put up tents here, and hold this kind of health expo.
“We also work with volunteer doctors, private and government and some as far as China and nurses. They come to assist us with no remuneration. We also partner other health agencies such as the Council for the Blind, National Aids Council among others to provide other services.”
Dube become Makokoba legislator in 2015, following a by-election boycotted by the opposition. He had previously contested and lost to the opposition.
