SW Radio Africa (London)
Tichaona Sibanda
19 November 2008
The University of Zimbabwe Medical School, the only institution producing medical doctors in the country, has closed indefinitely. The school was closed on Monday and the official announcement was made on Wednesday.
The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights made the announcement at a press conference in Harare. The medical school is hosted by the Parirenyatwa group of hospitals which offers them teaching facilities like laboratories and other infrastructure necessary for the training of doctors.
The closure of the institution has been necessitated by the breakdown of the health system--the non functionality of Parirenyatwa and other hospitals. The repercussions will be felt countrywide as the medical school has attachments of 4th and 5th year students to all major hospitals.
Dr Simba Ndoda from the Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) confirmed the closure, saying it had became impossible for the lecturers to continue to teach medical students in non-functioning health institutions.
The country's health system, once among the best in Africa, has collapsed under the weight of the world's highest inflation rate, officially 231 million percent, but believed to be over 5 quintillion percent. Most hospitals are now unable to provide even basic medicines.
The Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights said it will not be possible to re-open the medical school or to provide quality training of health professionals for the country's health system, until the issues that have led to the collapse of the health sector are addressed.
This follows the closure of the country's main referral hospitals - Harare Central Hospital and Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare, as well as Mpilo Hospital and United Bulawayo Hospitals in Bulawayo. District hospitals like Chinhoyi, KweKwe, Marondera and Kadoma and municipal clinics around the country are barely functioning or are closed.
Members of the ZADHR took part in a protest organised by health workers from Harare Central and Parirenyatwa Hospitals on Tuesday, protesting against the state of the public health system.
The health workers had planned to march to the offices of the Minister of Health and Child Welfare at Kaguvi Building, to present a petition calling for urgent action to be taken to restore accessible and affordable health care to Zimbabwe's population. But the protest was brutally broken by heavily armed police details.
Dr Amon Severegi said they've since lost hope that the present government will do anything to reverse the situation. He branded Health Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa as 'useless' saying he belonged to a bunch of people who have let the people of Zimbabwe down.
'We as doctors are shocked at the government's inaction over this whole issue. Hospitals shut their doors three weeks ago and we have cholera stalking the country and yet government conceals all this from the public,' Dr Severegi said.
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Why does this not surprise me. In todays posts I read there are no longer facilities for women to have their babies safely and with post natal care. The schools are closing, the kids are getting no education because they are scrounging termites outside of Mora to eat. Malnutrition is through the roof and all Comrade Mugabe and ZANU-pf can do is talk. All ZANU-pf can do is wear T-Shirts with Marxists slogans. It is beyond me the extent of total disregard of human life exists with Mugabe and his henchmen and the brutally of black on black in Zimbabwe. I guess I just knew it when things were a whole lot better in the 1970's and early 80's. The pictures I saw of starving Zimbabwe toddlers just broke my heart.
will205.....I stand with you.
And Idiot Mugabe and regime want to open a military college! I mean how low can a animal drive his country down. There is a medical epidemic in Zim and they colse a medical college and open a military one. What are Mugabe and regime thinking. Hang Mugabe and regime from a tree and use there bodies to fertilize the soil to grow food!
This does not come as a surprise to the many suffering people of Zimbabwe especially when this Zanu PF government spends resources churning propaganda ignoring facts on the ground. Efforts to inform the regime about the crumbling of social services are met with disdain and often restrained by unleashing the so called riot police. The concern of the Mugabe regime is to save their skin they don’t care about the suffering masses. It is quite important now for Mugabe to call it a day he has failed. Trying to perpetuate his rein will lead to more violence, finger pointing and creating pseudo- enemies of Zimbabwe.