Opinion / Letters
A Challenge to the Ministry of Health Show us the Truth, Not the Spin
19 hrs ago | Views
Dear Minister of Health, Deputy Minister, and Permanent Secretary,
Allow me to also include Nick Mangwana and the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio committee on health.
Following the Ministry's recent statement on social media proclaiming that "all is well" in Zimbabwe's health sector, I write not with hostility, but with a challenge and a sincere invitation to prove it. Perm Sec Mangwana shared a video of a painter who was allegedly painting at Parirenyatwa hospital i think.
Let's move beyond the press statements and orchestrated photo ops. If indeed everything is well, then I ask you to demonstrate it transparently, directly, and unannounced. Let the nation witness the health system's reality not from behind your podiums or at NATPHARM warehouses, but from the perspective of an ordinary Zimbabwean who walks into a public hospital seeking care.
Here is my challenge to you:
1. Visit Parirenyatwa Hospital unannounced. Go to the C-wards, film what you find beds, toilets, linen, food served to patients, and the availability of medicines. Show us the truth on the ground. Talk to the patients , talk to the nurses and if you find doctors doing the rounds then talk to them as well.
2. Pass through the Casualty Department. Record the state of the toilets there. Let the nation see the hygiene standards patients and staff deal with daily. Show us the world class benches at casualty , show us the medicine and equipment at casualty.
3. Walk through the Outpatients Department. If you can stand the stench from mortuary then you would be heroes. Show us the benches patients sit on for hours, and tell us what medicines are actually available there not on a procurement list, but in the hands of patients.
4. Visit the Physiotherapy Department. Show us the "state-of-the-art" equipment if it exists and the condition of the treatment environment. Do they have a pool for hydrotherapy at Pari ?
5. Extend your tour to Harare Central Hospital. If fuel permits, apply the same test there. We need to see consistency across our major institutions, not selective presentation.
Nurses were on strike recently complaining on the availability of medicines and the working environment. Deputy Minister Kwidini in Parliamentary recently spoke about the infant mortality rate in Zimbabwe. Yet you released a press statement claiming that those sounding the alarm on the state of our health care are being mischievous. Really now ?
Your recent media tour of NATPHARM and display of medicines including donated supplies from USAID may have reassured some, but it is incomplete. The public doesn't interact with NATPHARM; we interact with hospitals. Boxes in warehouses don't heal the sick. Medicines locked in storerooms don't relieve pain. We want to see what's reaching the wards.
To the Minister and your team , your public declaration suggests confidence in your position. So, accept this challenge. Visit these institutions before Cabinet on Monday or Tuesday 12 or 13 May. Show us that your words are not empty. Let your actions affirm your narrative. If you can't do it by 12 and 13 May then don't do it because you might rush to clean up and choreograph your visit to save your jobs.
To investigative journalists: I also call on you to take hidden cameras into our central hospitals. Show us the toilets, beds, linen, and patient experiences. Let the people compare your findings with those of the Ministry.
To the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health: You, too, should undertake an impromptu fact-finding mission. This is your duty to speak truth to power, and to ensure that the nation's health is not sacrificed on the altar of convenience or propaganda.
The Vice President of the Republic who presides over Ministry of Health please take the Minister to task over this challenge that I have put out in the public domain.
The President is playing his part to ensure development and some ministers and mid level managers are sabotaging the President and the nation. Saboteurs exist and they are within government. Public Service Commission chairman , chief secretary to OPC have you been to public hospitals of late ? Have you seen the conditions of service and the state of our hospitals ?
Health is not a PR campaign. It is a matter of life and death. Glossing over harsh realities in the health sector is not just irresponsible it is dangerous. In fact, such actions should be considered a betrayal of the public trust. When health becomes propaganda, human lives are treated as expendable.
Let us restore truth and accountability to this vital sector. We are not asking for miracles we are asking for honesty.
The nation is watching.
Allow me to also include Nick Mangwana and the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio committee on health.
Following the Ministry's recent statement on social media proclaiming that "all is well" in Zimbabwe's health sector, I write not with hostility, but with a challenge and a sincere invitation to prove it. Perm Sec Mangwana shared a video of a painter who was allegedly painting at Parirenyatwa hospital i think.
Let's move beyond the press statements and orchestrated photo ops. If indeed everything is well, then I ask you to demonstrate it transparently, directly, and unannounced. Let the nation witness the health system's reality not from behind your podiums or at NATPHARM warehouses, but from the perspective of an ordinary Zimbabwean who walks into a public hospital seeking care.
Here is my challenge to you:
1. Visit Parirenyatwa Hospital unannounced. Go to the C-wards, film what you find beds, toilets, linen, food served to patients, and the availability of medicines. Show us the truth on the ground. Talk to the patients , talk to the nurses and if you find doctors doing the rounds then talk to them as well.
2. Pass through the Casualty Department. Record the state of the toilets there. Let the nation see the hygiene standards patients and staff deal with daily. Show us the world class benches at casualty , show us the medicine and equipment at casualty.
3. Walk through the Outpatients Department. If you can stand the stench from mortuary then you would be heroes. Show us the benches patients sit on for hours, and tell us what medicines are actually available there not on a procurement list, but in the hands of patients.
4. Visit the Physiotherapy Department. Show us the "state-of-the-art" equipment if it exists and the condition of the treatment environment. Do they have a pool for hydrotherapy at Pari ?
5. Extend your tour to Harare Central Hospital. If fuel permits, apply the same test there. We need to see consistency across our major institutions, not selective presentation.
Nurses were on strike recently complaining on the availability of medicines and the working environment. Deputy Minister Kwidini in Parliamentary recently spoke about the infant mortality rate in Zimbabwe. Yet you released a press statement claiming that those sounding the alarm on the state of our health care are being mischievous. Really now ?
Your recent media tour of NATPHARM and display of medicines including donated supplies from USAID may have reassured some, but it is incomplete. The public doesn't interact with NATPHARM; we interact with hospitals. Boxes in warehouses don't heal the sick. Medicines locked in storerooms don't relieve pain. We want to see what's reaching the wards.
To the Minister and your team , your public declaration suggests confidence in your position. So, accept this challenge. Visit these institutions before Cabinet on Monday or Tuesday 12 or 13 May. Show us that your words are not empty. Let your actions affirm your narrative. If you can't do it by 12 and 13 May then don't do it because you might rush to clean up and choreograph your visit to save your jobs.
To investigative journalists: I also call on you to take hidden cameras into our central hospitals. Show us the toilets, beds, linen, and patient experiences. Let the people compare your findings with those of the Ministry.
To the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health: You, too, should undertake an impromptu fact-finding mission. This is your duty to speak truth to power, and to ensure that the nation's health is not sacrificed on the altar of convenience or propaganda.
The Vice President of the Republic who presides over Ministry of Health please take the Minister to task over this challenge that I have put out in the public domain.
The President is playing his part to ensure development and some ministers and mid level managers are sabotaging the President and the nation. Saboteurs exist and they are within government. Public Service Commission chairman , chief secretary to OPC have you been to public hospitals of late ? Have you seen the conditions of service and the state of our hospitals ?
Health is not a PR campaign. It is a matter of life and death. Glossing over harsh realities in the health sector is not just irresponsible it is dangerous. In fact, such actions should be considered a betrayal of the public trust. When health becomes propaganda, human lives are treated as expendable.
Let us restore truth and accountability to this vital sector. We are not asking for miracles we are asking for honesty.
The nation is watching.
Source - Hector Mbizvo
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