Matabeleland North patients cross into Zambia for healthcare

Patients from Hwange and Victoria Falls are increasingly crossing into Zambia to seek affordable and accessible healthcare amid worsening shortages of medicines, high medical fees and inadequate referral facilities in Matabeleland North.

The province has no functional provincial referral hospital, leaving patients dependent on Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo, hundreds of kilometres away along the badly deteriorated Bulawayo–Victoria Falls highway.

Plans to upgrade Lupane Provincial Hospital into a provincial referral centre have stalled for years, while facilities such as St Patrick's Hospital in Hwange and Hwange Colliery Hospital are reportedly struggling with inadequate funding, drug shortages and high treatment costs.

Kachechete Ward 3 councillor Givemeagain Moyo said the situation had become so dire that residents were travelling to Zambia for even minor medical procedures.

"People now travel to Zambia for simple things like treatment of toothaches and other health issues because it is cheaper," Moyo said.

He said healthcare costs in Zimbabwe had become unaffordable for many families, with patients often required to pay for services despite hospitals lacking essential medicines.

"The healthcare sector for a Zimbabwean is very expensive. When a person is sick, they do not find any medication when they get to the hospital," he said.

Moyo added that patients and their families often spent precious time searching for money to cover medical bills, delaying treatment and worsening outcomes.

He said he had personally assisted several patients seeking treatment in Zambia, where he claimed services were more affordable, facilities better stocked and patients attended to more quickly.

The councillor called for the urgent establishment of a fully equipped referral hospital in Lupane, arguing that the current dependence on Mpilo placed an excessive burden on patients from Matabeleland North.

He also raised concerns over the condition of the Bulawayo–Victoria Falls road, saying journeys that should take about five hours could stretch to 10 hours.

"When that person gets there at Mpilo they ask to pay US$300 and people are crying foul because the economy is not doing well. Some pregnant women end up giving birth on the way," Moyo said.

He said the combination of expensive treatment, medicine shortages and poor transport infrastructure was pushing more residents to seek healthcare across the border.

The crisis has also forced some communities to raise money collectively to help patients who cannot afford medical expenses.

Another councillor, who requested anonymity for ethical reasons, said she had taken her injured child to Zambia after the child reportedly spent five days at St Patrick's Hospital without receiving medical attention.

"I had to take her to Zambia; that's where she got treated, and she did not stay the whole day there," she said.

The councillor questioned what ordinary Zimbabweans could do to access adequate medical care, describing the situation in the healthcare sector as disastrous.

Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs Minister Richard Moyo declined to comment, saying the matter fell outside his office's responsibilities and directing inquiries to the Ministry of Health and Child Care.

Health and Child Care Deputy Minister Sleiman Kwidini was unavailable for comment, saying he was attending a meeting.

The concerns have renewed calls for the government to invest in provincial health infrastructure, improve the availability of essential medicines and address the cost of treatment.

Residents and local leaders say that without improvements to healthcare facilities and referral transport, patients in Matabeleland North will remain vulnerable to long journeys, financial hardship and delays in receiving potentially life-saving treatment.