“There is a critical shortage of items ranging from anaesthetics to surgical equipment at Parirenyatwa Hospital,” Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights chairperson Douglas Gwatidzo told the press.
“(Doctors) are not prepared to be blamed for an operation which goes wrong because it was done without the necessary equipment,” added Gwatidzo.
He said most doctors at Parirenyatwa were now reluctant to carry out surgical operations as operating a patient without first giving him painkillers would amount to “subjecting that patient to torture”.
Zimbabwe’s health delivery system, once lauded as one of the best in sub-Saharan Africa, has virtually collapsed due to years of under-funding and mismanagement.
Hundreds of doctors and nurses have also fled the country’s economic crisis to seek better paying jobs across the country’s borders, mostly to South Africa and Botswana. – ZimOnline
Post published in: News