A new clinic is set to open doors at the 60km peg along the Beitbridge-Bulawayo Road in the Mazunga area, after passing a recent standards and conformity inspection, carried out by a team from the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
The clinic will service communities around resettlement areas in Ward 14, motorists using the Beitbridge to Bulawayo road, and the Tshionzeni, Musane, Mapani, Mabidi, Masera and Zhovhe areas.
The medical facility has a maternity wing to accommodate more than 12 women at a time, a pharmacy, a mothers' waiting shelter, environmental health section, the general patients' department, male and female wards and a standard emergency room.
Communities in the area working with the local businesses, and the Beitbridge Rural District Council, put together resources and converted a former farmhouse into a clinic.
The rural district council's acting chief executive officer, Mr Peter Ncube said the council had encountered delays in opening to the public to fix some grey areas pointed out by the Ministry of Health and Child Care. A final inspection was carried out recently and the council was now working on the necessary processes to open the clinic.
"We are ready to open and we have done our homework as advised by health experts.
"This clinic will be a relief to many people under the ward 14 catchment area and those who fall ill on their way to either Beitbridge or Bulawayo. As it stands, we are waiting for official communication from the Ministry of Health and Child Care so that we open the facility".
Mr Ncube said the council was building more clinics in other wards to increase access to such facilities, especially by women and the youth. These have a challenge accessing maternal health facilities in most of the 15 rural wards and some resettlement areas. He said the council was in the midst of preparing the Tshibili community for commissioning after a clinic opened its doors to the public recently.
"We are also working on repairing the ceiling at Dumba Clinic in Ward 2, which also needs electrical connections before opening,"
"Tshabili clinic has been opened and we are repainting it pending its commissioning soon. Our idea is to build more clinics in all the wards to cut the distance some people are walking to access health facilities," said Mr Ncube.
In ward 14 the council had put up a piped water scheme to service a school and the community in the Mudzwiti area which relies on a solar-powered borehole. This was done with the help of the International Medical Corps through the water and sanitation health initiative in response to cholera which hit the area a few months ago.
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District medical officer Dr Lenos Samhere said his team was satisfied with the civil works and had recommended for the facility to be opened to the public.
"We have done our part and are happy with the improvements at the Mazunga clinic and have recommended that the Beitbridge Rural District Council should open the facility to the public while they fix minor outstanding issues such as fixing broken floor tiles," said Dr Samhere."The council will make the final arrangements on staffing and the day for official opening".
Mazunga clinic brings to 18 the number of clinics in the district.
Mazunga project chairman, Mr Alfred Makhomo Moyo said recently that the opening of the facility would ease the plight of sick people who have to walk up to 15km to get medical attention. The distance was almost twice the maximum distance recommended by the World Health Organisation. According to WHO standards, people should not walk for more than 8km to access primary healthcare facilities.
"We noticed a gap in terms of public health service delivery in our area, which is predominantly a farming zone and we are located along the major highway," said Mr Moyo.
"So we decided to pool resources and modify this former farmhouse into a clinic. We approached our council and businessmen who made this dream possible. This health facility is located at a central place in Ward 14 and we are looking forward to its opening".
They had since received medical equipment from well-wishers for use upon the completion of the project. Mr Moyo said painting, modification of infrastructure and plumbing had been completed.
