Capital’s health system faces collapse

Lovemore Mbengeranwa, Harare’s Director of Health Services, told ‘The Daily News’ on Saturday that a lack of funds was crippling the City Health Department’s ability to provide efficient services to the residents of the capital. According to his 2000 annual health report, the city council’s water supplies are threatened, garbage cannot be collected, sewage cannot be adequately treated, drugs and dressings cannot be procured and staff are unsure whether they will be paid at the end of the month because of a critical shortage of money. Mbengeranwa said rising poverty and unemployment were a cause for concern in Harare. “This is creating an environment conducive to widespread malnutrition, particularly among children. Tuberculosis is on the increase due to overcrowding and malnutrition. Added to this is the ever-increasing burden of HIV/AIDS,” he added. The number of recorded cases of TB increased from 6,538 in 1999 to 8,819 in 2000. Mbengeranwa said the situation called for the speedy eradication of poverty. The report depicts the deterioration of the nutrition status of schoolchildren. This, he said, mirrored the harsh economic conditions in the city. He said for the third year running, Harare was unable to fund its supplementary feeding programme for disadvantaged children. Mbengeranwa said fewer children under the age of five now visited clinics because of the high fees now being charged. Previously they received free treatment with an up-to-date immunisation record kept as an incentive to encourage child immunisation.