Story by Abigirl Tembo, Health Editor
THE government, working with various partners has put in place mechanisms to ensure no one is left behind in accessing medical services even in remote parts of the country.
Senior citizens from Chipisa village of Gutu and surrounding areas were some of the patients who received free medical treatment during an integrated outreach programme organised by the Ministry of Health and Childcare supported by the European Union, UNICEF, Gavi the Vaccine Alliance and other partners through the Health Resilience Fund (HRF).
“We remain grateful to the government for giving us this opportunity to get free treatment as you can see some of us are old and have no source of income, so this is most welcome,” said a senior citizen.
Another said, “I had to use a scotch cart to come here because I can no longer walk long distances because of my back which is always in pain but I am happy that I have received medication for the pain,”
“We normally travel to Matizha or Gutu for treatment, but we are happy that this medical outreach came right at our doorsteps and with all the medication for that matter,” said a senior citizen.
Provincial health promotions officer for Masvingo province, Mr Kenneth Nhemachena highlighted that their medical outreaches aim to improve health care services in rural areas.
“Here we are conducting a medical outreach where we take our services from a fixed facility that’s a hospital to the communities and villages. This we have done to improve access to health by reducing the distance and their services so we have taken all the specialities which we have to this facility, in other words, we have brought Gutu Rural Hospital to Chipisa today so that the people of Chipisa can get all the services which they require,” he said.
Launched in January this year, the US$90 million HRF seeks to accelerate progress towards achieving Universal Health Coverage ensuring that citizens have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without having to suffer financial hardship to pay for it.
It covers the full continuum of essential health services, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care.
