Desperate patients from Hwange and Victoria Falls in Matabeleland North are crossing the border into Zambia to seek affordable and better healthcare services, as the province remains the most medically underserved.
The province has no functional provincial referral hospital, leaving residents dependent on Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo — hundreds of kilometres away along a severely degraded highway.
Plans to upgrade Lupane Provincial Hospital into a referral facility have stalled for years, while district hospitals such as St Patrick’s in Hwange and Hwange Colliery Hospital are chronically underfunded, short of drugs and, in the case of Colliery, expensive for ordinary patients.
Kachechete Ward 3 councillor Givemeagain Moyo said the healthcare crisis in the district has reached alarming levels, forcing ordinary citizens to abandon local hospitals in search of treatment across the Zambezi.
“People now travel to Zambia for simple things like treatment of toothaches and other health issues because it is cheaper,” Moyo said.
He said the cost of healthcare in the country has become unbearable for many families, with hospitals demanding payment for almost every service despite failing to provide basic drugs.
“The issue of the healthcare sector is a big problem when looking at the fact that many people lose their loved ones,” Moyo said.
“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.”
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According to Moyo, patients are subjected to long and expensive processes that often delay emergency care and result in the loss of life.
He said many families spend valuable time sourcing money for hospital bills instead of securing treatment for their loved ones.
“Other factors leading to that are the exorbitant fees, and many spend most of their time looking for funds for the hospital bills,” Moyo said.
The councillor said he has personally assisted numerous patients in accessing treatment in Zambia, where services are more efficient and affordable.
He said Zambia’s health facilities are well-stocked and offer quicker service compared with Zimbabwe’s struggling hospitals.
“Matabeleland North must have a referral hospital even in Lupane province but you will find out that all referrals are only done in Mpilo in Bulawayo,” he said.
He, however, noted that the poor state of the Bulawayo–Victoria Falls road has made emergency referrals a nightmare, with critically ill patients spending long hours in transit.
“And the state of the road to Bulawayo is not good because it takes one 10 hours to get there. A very short distance of five hours is doubled to 10 hours.”
Moyo said that upon arrival at Mpilo, patients are further burdened by high fees, with some failing to raise the required amounts.
“And 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,” he said.
He said the dire situation has pushed many expectant mothers and other patients to opt for Zambian hospitals.
“Nowadays some prefer crossing the border to Zambia to get better healthcare,” Moyo said.
The councillor said communities are now forced to crowdfund medical expenses for neighbours who cannot afford treatment.
Moyo said the continued deterioration of the health sector is a violation of citizens’ right to health and called on the government to urgently invest in Matabeleland North’s health infrastructure, including equipping Lupane Provincial Hospital to function as a proper referral centre.
He said that until the government addresses the cost of care, the availability of drugs and the state of referral roads, more Zimbabweans will continue to seek healthcare outside the country.
Another councillor, who requested anonymity for ethical reasons, said she was also forced to seek treatment in Zambia for her child due to poor services at local hospitals.
“I also have to go to Zambia because my child is not feeling well,” she said.
She narrated how her injured child went for five days without medical attention at the local hospital.
“For instance when my child got hurt she stayed for 5 full days at St Patrick’s Hospital without being attended to.
“I had to take her to Zambia; that’s where she got treated, and she did not stay the whole day there.
“So we don’t know what we should do as Zimbabweans to get help because the healthcare sector is a disaster,” she said.
Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs minister Richard Moyo said it was not his place to comment on the matter.
“I cannot comment on that matter as it does not fall under my office. You may need to contact the Ministry of Health and Child Care for an official response on health issues,” Moyo said.
Health and Child Care deputy minister Sleiman Kwidini said he was not available to comment.
“I am busy at the moment, I’m in a meeting,” he said.
