At a Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) community meeting held by CHRA yesterday at Zimbabwe Hall, residents revealed that at Highfields Polyclinic, nurses have turned into money changers as they are prioritizing patients with United States Dollars and pay for them using their Ecocash and bank accounts.
“Our nurses are not receipting the United States dollars we give them, instead they are taking the money and then use their Ecocash to pay for us and give us a receipt written in bond notes (ZWL),” said an angry old woman at the meeting.
Residents lamented that after paying the consultation fees they are not given medication but told to buy medication at private pharmacies. Residents alleged that despite the fact that there is no medication at the clinic, nurses are selling medical drugs and medication in United States Dollars outside the clinic premises. Another woman who attended the dialogue meeting identified as Mai Tawanda said, “It is disappointing that the health personnel are selling drugs while we are told that there is no medication at the clinics. These drugs are sold by night after working hours.”
Currently, 8 out of forty- two clinics are operational in Harare, a situation that has seen people with chronic diseases failing to get medication while pregnant women have resorted to untrained midwives to give birth even though they would have paid maternal fees.
The residents who attended the meeting resolved to petition parliament on the violation of the right to health and vowed to drag Harare City Council over the closure of other clinics.
Source: Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
