Mugabe's policies threaten regional health
THE rapid deterioration of the health system in Zimbabwe is an import-ant reason for urgent pressure to be applied on President Robert Mugabe, a health advocacy group told The Zimbab-wean after publishing its grim report on the country last week.
Africa Fighting Malaria, a Johannesburg-based non-governmental organisation, said in a new report that Zimbabwe's political and economic turmoil had dealt a crippling blow to the health sector, with life expectancy plummeting by 30 years and an HIV/Aids time-bomb threatening to explode.
In an interview, Dr Roger Bate, a co-author of the report, told The Zimbab-wean: "The health situation is a key pointer for why action from SADC is necessary. HIV rates are very high and the diaspora of HIV positive Zimbabwe-ans could destabilise regional health."
He said South African President, Thabo Mbeki, was failing the region by not acting on Mugabe while the failure of the health sector in Zimbabwe threatens the entire region. Dr Bate said Zimbabwe's health system was fast becoming the worst in the region, and would soon be the poorest in Africa.
"Pressure from western leaders needs to be applied to SADC leaders," he said. "Mugabe obviously doesn't care how much his people suffer but maybe other leaders care about their people's health. For starters, they must insist on proper monitoring of the election.”
The report says Zimbabweans now only expect to live to 33 years, 30 years less than in 1998 – just six years ago. Zimb-abwe's once-model economy was reported to be in tatters due to several initiatives taken by the government, including the seizure of white farmland for redistribution to the black majority, which began in 2000.
The economic meltdown has had a disastrous impact on healthcare, and more than 20% of the population was now infected with HIV/Aids. The report underlined that the high incidence of HIV-Aids, coupled with an exodus of Zimbab-wean refugees and economic migrants to nearby countries, threatened to "destabil-ise" the whole of Southern Africa and wreak havoc on the health sector.
"With the disintegration of the country's healthcare system it is estimated that the death rate attributed to HIV/Aids will reach 23 per 1 000 deaths in 2005, up from 10 per 1 000 deaths in 1993-1994," the report said.
Quoting figures from UNAids, the report said more than 160 000 Zimbabweans "are in desperate need of antiretroviral treatment" but underlined that, according to a Harare-based Aids treatment and counselling project - The Centre, the figure was closer to three million.
The latest World Bank data showed that between 2000 and 2001 public health expenditure as a percentage of GDP fell from 3.8% to 2.8%. Public hospitals were in a shambles and an exodus of doctors and nurses had crippled the system.
Malaria was "a minor health concern" since 1950 but now was a major problem due to a skeletal anti-malaria programme following an acute lack of funding.