The Sunday Mail
Tanyaradzwa Rusike
ZIMBABWE’s first specialist hospital currently under development in Mazowe will open its doors to patients in August as the Government moves to modernise the health sector and ensure world-class services are provided locally.
It is understood that Zimbabweans spend up to US$400 million annually seeking treatment and other health services abroad, and the Quinary hospital will significantly reduce such expenses.
Upon completion, the hospital is expected to be one of the best specialist health centres in Africa.
Spearheaded by the University of Zimbabwe and funded by Government, the facility will start operating its Oral Health Unit, Eye Centre, Invitro Fertilisation Unit (IVF) Unit and Diagnostic Laboratory ahead of unveiling of the main site early next year.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail, UZ Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Mapfumo said: “We have been putting mechanisms in place to accelerate construction works. We are building capacity to do the construction through our newly established Department of Engineering, Infrastructure and Estate,” he said.
Prof Mapfumo said the site is currently being equipped.
“The groundbreaking of the main site was done by the President but we do have the Oral Health Unit, Eye Centre, IVF Unit and the Diagnostic Laboratory, which are now at equipmentation phase.
“So, we are hoping that those units should be functioning before August this year if we get a good lead of time of part of the critical equipment. We were importing some of the equipment but now, we are trying to look at what we can source in the country and that’s the phase we are in now,” he said.
He said the administration building has now taken shape after a lot of underground construction.
“The second module is the pharmacy building, the third module is the oncology and the fourth is cardiology. We also have the outer site where we are doing the public and environmental health building,” he said.
A Quinary hospital offers the highest specialised healthcare.
The UZ facility is also expected to train specialists and health personnel.
“Our medical school is increasingly becoming very visible and on demand from other institutions in the region. This means we are already on the path to have a flagship for the university and the country in terms of medical training.
“There will be a reduction of the estimated US$400 million that people spend on importing medical services. But we think that the substitution for the Quinary hospital is to stop people from going outside to search for medical assistance,” he said.
The hospital, Prof Mapfumo said, is responding to the call for industrialisation of medical training under Education 5.0.
Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube recently said it was imperative for the country to enhance medical tourism and cut the costly medical bill.
“We were losing US$400 million a year through these referrals. So, the sector sends a patient for treatment to India on referral but that doctor in India, if he were to come to Zimbabwe wanting to treat a patient here, he is not allowed by the same medical council,” said the Minister.
By setting up the Quinary hospital, Zimbabwe will be able to launch its own medical tourism and attract local specialist doctors who are based abroad.
These foreign-based Zimbabwean doctors have been acting as agents who refer patients from their home country to foreign health centres.
Twitter: @Tanya Rusike
