Zimbabwe’s healthcare crisis is not about taxes — It’s about theft
By Hopewell Chin’ono
I have seen many social media stories claiming that we need more taxes to fund healthcare. That is not true at all.
Today’s tax base can fully fund all Zimbabwean hospitals without any shortages, if Mnangagwa and his criminal cartels stop stealing public funds.
Zimbabwe has only six central or referral hospitals; Parirenyatwa, Sally Mugabe, Chitungwiza, United Bulawayo Hospitals, Mpilo, and Ingutsheni.
All six hospitals need only a combined total of US$60 million a year to run without any shortages.
That is the equivalent of what Mnangagwa paid MPs and judges as a bribe, money that would have been enough to fund all six referral hospitals.
I know that in a country where people do not usually read technical material, many may be blinded by state propaganda.
The money the First Lady uses for her Pada projects could run all the central hospitals for a whole year without shortages.
We have enough taxes, but they are being looted and used to buy mansions in foreign countries and luxury cars, many of this money is hidden outside Zimbabwe.
Adults should rely on the truth when having discussions about life and death like healthcare and not rely on propaganda!
_*Pari Is A Death Trap : Patients*_
Being admitted at Parirenyatwa Hospital is a death sentence if one has no money.
“The hospital only provides a bed,” said a woman who had spent two agonising weeks nursing her elderly mother. “We paid US$140 for blood tests and US$40 for medication. An X-ray cost us again. Imagine if we didn’t have medical aid — this would be a death sentence.”
US$40 is steep in a country where over 90% are unemployed, according to trade unions, and only 8% have medical insurance.
Her voice shook.
“The beds are broken. The wheelchairs barely move. Even elderly patients now pay US$70 just for admission. The place feels abandoned.”
That word — abandoned — repeats itself at Sally Mugabe Central. It spills from caregivers loitering in dim corridors, hoping their loved ones survive the night.
“My daughter has been admitted here for two weeks,” said another relative.
“Doctors walk past if you do not provide what they prescribed. I am relying on my relatives to help cover the costs because the hospital provides no support. There is no support, no humanity.”
This grim picture sharply contrasts with the government’s claims. Deputy Health Minister Sleiman Kwidini insisted this week that “everything is improving”.
“We are doing everything to improve services,” he said. “We have not received any major concerns from hospital administrators.”
On Wednesday, he told Parliament that the citizens were “very happy” with the service delivery in public hospitals.
“We are doing wonders since 2018 to make sure the citizens receive quality care. What we are doing is only known by the patients, not the social media participants. As we speak right now, our citizens are very happy with the service delivery that we are giving.”
But that narrative fell apart in the hospital hallways, where relatives scramble for basic painkillers and surgical gloves.
Outside Sally Mugabe’s casualty unit, a man pacing nervously captured the national despair:
“The doctors and nurses are not to blame. They are doing their best. But there are no medicines, no equipment. If I had money, my father would be in a private hospital — but I don’t.”
A collapsing system now leans heavily on underpaid, overstretched staff. Nurses at Sally Mugabe — Zimbabwe’s largest referral centre — recently staged a rare protest, decrying conditions one union called “abject poverty.”
“Nurses are earning about US$240 plus a few ZiG,” said Zimbabwe Nurses Association president Enock Dongo. “That is not enough for a decent living. Government has failed its workers.”
Dongo said nurses, often blamed for delays and poor service, are simply trying to survive.
“They are exhausted. They are working in a war zone without armour.”
And the war zone analogy fits. In maternity wards, women deliver new life with no comfort. In emergency rooms, accident victims lie untreated for hours. In cancer wards, outdated machines stand still. Zimbabwe Independent
_*Burns Patient Sneaks Out Of Hospital Over Bills*_
A patient with severe burns sustained after falling into a fire during an overnight prayer session, sneaked out of a Gutu Mission Hospital Ward without being discharged last week after realising that his continued stay would attract him an average US$10 a day in bills which he has no means to pay.
Enock Chiurawa of Chief Nyamandi area who is now in agony at home confirmed his predicament to Masvingo Mirror and said his dilemma is that he has no money for drugs prescribed him therefore his stay in the ward was pointless as it would attract unnecessary bills he cannot pay.
He appealed to well-wishers to help him get treatment.
“I panicked when I realised that my stay in the ward would attract an average US$10 a day. I am told they give you your full bill when you are discharged but they will not allow you to leave until you have paid in full.
“I cannot even pay the bill for one day, let alone pay medication so I just decided to leave before getting into trouble with the hospital over bills,” said Chiurawa.
Gutu Mission Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Olenga Lohela described the incident as unfortunate. He said that the hospital will do all it can to help patients but the problem is that some drugs are not available in the hospital pharmacy and patients need to buy them. He advised Chiurawa to come back to the hospital and see him.
However, a medical practitioner said it was pointless for the patient to go back to hospital without the necessary medication for his treatment.
“He will just stay there in the hospital without treatment,” said the practitioner.
Well-wishers can contact Chiurawa on 0779 896 532 or Mirror Helpline on 0716 895 703/0775 691 380. Masvingo Mirror
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