The October 2021 Access to Public Health Monitoring Report by the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute highlights how the mass exodus of health personnel from the health sector as they seek greener pastures is an indication of massive rot. Read on to get the full picture.
During the period under review, Zimbabwe faced a health sector brain drain that threatens sound service delivery. The problem of brain drain comes against a background of continued failure by the government to address grievances of the health industry personnel. The accessibility of health care in rural areas remains a challenge and the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the situation.
The polyclinics have also been hit by critical shortage of nurses as revealed by an investigation conducted by the ZDI around Harare. The failure by the two govemments of Zimbabwe and India to ensure the delivery of a donation of 35 000 doses of the Indian Covaxin vaccine to the southern African country meant the recipients of the first and same quantity of donation had to restart the vaccination process.
The welfare of health workers and their working conditions have since been neglected by the government of Zimbabwe. The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe in March 2019 has further deteriorated the well-being of doctors and nurses as they became vulnerable to the coronavirus due to poor working conditions charactensed by lack of personal protective equipment. It is at this juncture that Zimbabwe begins to bear the brunt of governments negligence of the health sector as evidenced by the ongoing mass exodus of health workers from the country to other countries In search of greener pastures.
Read the full report here (356KB PDF)
Source:
Zimbabwe Democracy Institute
