HARARE – A recent report by Zimbabwe’s Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care has exposed significant challenges plaguing the country’s efforts to combat cancer and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
The report, presented to Parliament in 2024, details findings from fact-finding visits to six hospitals conducted in May 2024.
The committee’s investigation, which included oral evidence from the Ministry of Health and Child Care and tours of Mpilo Central Hospital, Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, Gweru General Hospital, Makumbe District Hospital, Karanda Hospital, and Bindura General Hospital, aimed to assess the state of cancer treatment and NCD management.
The report highlights that NCDs account for 36% of deaths in Zimbabwe, with cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases being the most prevalent.
Risk factors like tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, and harmful alcohol consumption contribute significantly to this burden.
The committee also noted that late presentation of diseases, particularly cancer, due to poor health-seeking behaviours, especially among men, hinders treatment outcomes.
While radiotherapy and oncology services exist at some hospitals, the report emphasises that diagnoses are often delayed due to critical shortages of specialists, including pathologists, radiologists, and oncologists, and the limited availability of advanced imaging facilities like CT and MRI scans in public hospitals.
The committee’s hospital visits revealed severe infrastructure deficiencies. At both Mpilo and Parirenyatwa, radiotherapy machines have been non-functional since 2021.
Parirenyatwa’s brachytherapy machine is also down due to depleted Cobalt 60 radioactive sources, and its linear accelerators have been non-operational for two years.
Mpilo faces similar challenges, with only 7 of 14 renal treatment machines working and its mammogram and mobile X-ray unit out of service. While laboratory services are generally equipped, inconsistent reagent supplies disrupt diagnostic testing.
The report acknowledges the government’s efforts, citing the recent procurement of two MRI machines for Mpilo and Parirenyatwa as a positive step.
Human resource challenges were also prominent. The committee found significant skills flight, with hospitals operating below capacity due to shortages of radiographers, medical physicists, and nuclear medicine physicians.
Limited funding restricts professional development opportunities, hindering healthcare workers’ ability to keep pace with advancements in the field.
Health financing emerged as another major concern. Hospitals reported underfunding and inconsistent disbursement of allocated funds, impacting their ability to maintain essential services and invest in technology and training.
The report notes that while the government provides renal kits, patients often must purchase additional materials, increasing out-of-pocket expenses.
The committee did, however, commend the government’s increased per capita spending on health in the 2024 budget and the introduction of a sin tax on sugar earmarked for cancer treatment equipment procurement.
“NCDs accounted for 36% of deaths in Zimbabwe, with major risk factors being tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, and harmful alcohol use,” the report noted.
“Poor health-seeking behaviors, especially among men, resulted in late-stage disease presentations, notably for cancer.
“Radiotherapy and oncology services were available at certain hospitals, but diagnosis was often delayed due to a shortage of specialists and advanced imaging facilities.
“While some services were offered, patients were often required to purchase other sundry materials such as catheters which significantly increased out-of-pocket spending on health.
“Hospital visits revealed critical infrastructure challenges like non-functional radiotherapy machines and limited renal treatment capacity.
“Most health facilities could not operate optimally due to the high rates of attrition of key medical personnel such as theatre nurses.”
Based on its findings, the committee made several recommendations, including establishing binding maintenance contracts for medical equipment, formulating a policy to retain health personnel after training, decentralising cancer treatment facilities to district hospitals by June 2025, developing a strategy to train, recruit, and retain key medical personnel, conducting awareness campaigns on cancer and NCDs by December 2025, researching traditional medicines for cancer and NCD treatment by December 2025, and establishing palliative care centers in all hospitals by December 2025.
The committee concluded that addressing these multifaceted challenges requires a coordinated effort to improve healthcare delivery and outcomes for patients with cancer and other NCDs.
