Health system collapses

experiencing not only a serious shortage of essential drugs, but also essential medical equipment. Cases of people suffering from diseases such as malaria or pneumonia and being given only painkillers as treatment abound. Added to this, the hospitals are also understaffed, workers morale is at its lowest ebb, and doctors and nurses have been on strike forever now.
At independence, President Robert Mugabe’s administration inherited one of the best health delivery system on the African continent. The Ministry of Health received one of the highest budget allocations. Working conditions for doctors and nurses were good, and so the patients were well cared for.
Since Mugabe’s government detected rising opposition to his rule due to his disastrous handling of the economy, the health budget has been falling, while defence spending has burgeoned.
Thousands of doctors and nurses have left for greener pastures as soon as they complete their training.
Most of the doctors who have chosen to remain have opened private surgeries where they spend most of their time. at the expense of government hospitals where they remain employed simply because they draw an appallingly low salary and can refer their patients for operations and other medical processes which they cannot perform at their surgeries.
Many people now prefer to go to traditional healers for treatment or to the church for spiritual healing. Others just die at home.
Currently the mortuary of Harare Hospital holds more than 20 times the number of bodies it was designed for. Relatives collecting their dead are horrified at the state of the mortuary where some bodies were actually decomposing and others were piled one on top of another or stacked on the floor because of a shortage of trays.