The Sunday Mail
Harmony Agere —
The cost of medical treatment in Zimbabwe continues to soar against the backdrop of a failing public healthcare system and the proliferation of private medical institutions that are taking advantage of stranded patients.
Investigations conducted by The Sunday Mail Extra revealed that most patients are seeking medical services at private medical institutions due to the shortage of drugs and equipment at public hospitals.
The private institutions are, however, charging exorbitant fees, making Zimbabwe’s healthcare one of the most expensive in the region. The Sunday Mail Extra has established that some senior doctors only provide critical medical services at their institutions that have mushroomed in and around various public hospitals in order to swoop on patients who would have been turned away from the public health institutions that do not have the required facilities.
In most instances, patients are forking out at least $20 to consult a general practitioner. When referred to a specialist doctor, consultation fees range between $50 and $80. Blood tests and various scans are conducted at yet another cost at private institutions.
Medical bills incurred are often so huge that even those on medical aid usually cannot escape shortfalls. For an abdominal CT scan or X-ray computed tomography, the patient has to part with at least $550. Comparatively, the same abdominal CT scan costs about R3 800 (approximately $270) in South Africa.
The cost of blood in Zimbabwe is also considered to be the highest in the region, if not on the continent, as patients in Zambia and Malawi pay at most $75 for a pint. In Zimbabwe, a pint of blood costs between $120 and $200.
Eye surgeries in Zimbabwe cost between $800 and $1 500 at private hospitals. At public hospitals the cost varies from $300 to $600. Due to the exorbitant costs, many Zimbabweans have had to live with cataract-induced blindness.
Post-operation medication also comes at high costs. At most public hospitals and clinics where drugs are often out of stock, patients are buying their own painkillers. A couple of weeks ago, there was uproar when an invoice showing that a private hospital in Bulawayo had charged an accident victim about $32 699 for various treatments circulated on social media.
According to the invoice, two doctors conducted surgeries for fractures and the spine on the unnamed accident victim. The cost of all services provided ranged from at least $400 to $11 000.
Private medical institutions are therefore taking advantage of deteriorating conditions at public institutions to reap big. However, this does not exonerate the public health institutions who have dismally failed on being the primary health providers. Experts say practitioners in the health sector are now driven by making profit rather than saving lives.
This has seen some patients turning to South Africa and India for treatment. However, experts also argue that the sector is receiving a low budget and this is compromising services in public institutions. In the 2016 National Budget, $330 million representing 8,3 percent of the total budget was allocated to the Health and Child Care ministry.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education got 20,3 percent; Home Affairs (9,9 percent); Defence (8,9 percent); Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development (7,6 percent).
“Total Health and Childcare allocation has remained below the 15 percent Abuja target and the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) average of 11,3 percent,” Unicef notes in a recent report.
“As a share of GDP, the Health and Child Care budget is 0,7 percentage points lower than the SSA average of 3 percent. Furthermore, Zimbabwe’s allocation per capita is significantly lower that its regional peers. Despite the per capita allocation increasing from $23,18 to $24,34 in 2016, it remains much lower than the WHO target of $34 and the Sadc average of $146,29,” reads the report.
Unicef says given the unpredictability of donor support, Government should consider mobilising resources locally.
“Sustainability requires that the Government increases its domestic resource mobilisation efforts, including innovative financing mechanisms such as public–private partnerships and private investments to increase resource flows into the economy in general and the health sector in particular.”
Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa is on record saying that his ministry is not getting adequate funds. This, he says, has crippled operations in his ministry.
Patients in rural areas were amenities are scarce are the most affected by the falling standards in public institutions. The majority of Zimbabwe’s population lives in rural areas.
