Masvingo probes 'sophisticated' ARV theft syndicate

Authorities at Masvingo Provincial Hospital have called for a police investigation into what they suspect is a highly organised syndicate manipulating patient records to steal anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs from the hospital's dispensary.

Hospital medical superintendent Dr Noel Zulu said the theft appeared to involve "sophisticated" individuals who were doctoring medical records to create fake HIV patients, enabling them to siphon off large quantities of life-saving drugs.

"We are going to conduct a sting operation and bring the culprits to book. This is a big and complicated case involving sophisticated people," said Dr Zulu. "I cannot give more details now because that will jeopardise our investigations."

However, Masvingo provincial police chief Commissioner Friedrick Mbengwa said his department had not yet been contacted about the alleged theft.

The scandal came to light after a whistleblower at the hospital leaked suspicious patient records to management, revealing a pattern of duplicate entries and irregular drug dispensing.

According to the whistleblower, the scheme appeared to involve the creation of "ghost" HIV patients whose fake records were used to collect ARV drugs fraudulently.

"While reconciling our patient lists, I discovered that 10 patients repeatedly appeared on the same days, sometimes collecting large quantities of drugs," the insider said.

The records showed that all 10 "patients" were registered on January 27, 2023, and consistently appeared on the same collection dates through to June 2025, often receiving identical quantities of ARV tablets - between 30 and 180 tablets per visit.

In total, nearly 8,000 tablets were dispensed to the group during that period. The whistleblower said many records appeared photocopied from original forms and bore unrecognisable signatures.

"These are clearly fake records. The signatures do not match anyone we know. It's a deliberate and systematic operation," the source said.

ARVs are essential for treating HIV but have also become a target for theft, with some reportedly used in the illegal manufacture of street drugs such as nyaope in southern Africa.

This is not the first time Masvingo Provincial Hospital has faced drug theft allegations.

Earlier this year, the hospital suspended senior nurse Moreblessing Munyira for allegedly stealing 75 ampoules of pethidine, a restricted painkiller, and cytotec, a drug sometimes misused to induce abortions.

Munyira allegedly forged documents, including signatures of off-duty nurses, and wrote fake prescriptions under a doctor's name to conceal her actions.

"I can confirm that investigations were done and she was suspended. The matter is now at the provincial medical director's office," Dr Zulu said.

In a separate case in February, laboratory staffers Goodson Dzuwalinyenga and Tichaona Shindi appeared in court accused of stealing medical supplies - including three units of blood and hundreds of test tubes - from the hospital's laboratory.

Although some items were recovered, the stolen blood was never found.

The latest scandal has deepened concerns over security and accountability in the country's public health institutions, where medicine thefts and corruption continue to undermine service delivery.