Hospital in need of care

Lack of finance has left the Harare Central hospital, one of Zimbabwe's major referral centres, on the verge of collapse. The superintendent of the 1,428-bed hospital, Chris Tapfumaneyi, told IRIN, "Most of our machines are obsolete and cannot be repaired - some of them have been like this for the past 10 years". When IRIN visited the hospital last week, five elevators were broken down; many toilets and sinks were blocked; part of the ceiling leaked badly; the laboratory equipment and anaesthetic machines were not functioning; incubators were operating at reduced capacity; and three out of the five dialysis machines were not in working order. Dirty linen - normally carried down in elevators from the upper floors - was being thrown haphazardly to the ground floor corridors below. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a nurse at the hospital said sick people had to be carried up the stairs to wards on upper floors, while bodies being removed from upstairs wards to the mortuary were placed in body bags and dragged down the stairs. A company called in to repair the elevators five years ago had declared them obsolete; last year the National Social Security Authority inspectors declared the elevators unfit for hospital use. "We were allocated $300 million (about US $5,000) to purchase two elevators, but our problem is that the State Procurement Board has not yet awarded a new tender for the work. We wrote to them in October last year but there is no development yet," Tapfumaneyi said. Theatre equipment, including anaesthetic machines, barely function. Patients also have to cope with bathing in cold water, as the geysers and showers have broken down - showers are recommended in hospitals, as they are more hygienic. In the maternity wing more than 60 women give birth every day. When IRIN visited, thirty-six sick and premature babies were being looked after in the nursery, where the central heating system that is supposed to provide a regulated environment for them no longer works. Tapfumaneyi said facilities at the hospital started deteriorating three years ago when foreign currency shortages hit the country. "A hospital cannot function properly without the injection of foreign currency by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. Things are improving now with the new developments at the bank, but we are not yet there," he explained. When contacted for comment, the Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr David Parirenyatwa, failed to respond.