Public clinics and hospitals in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, are running out of desperately needed drugs to treat tuberculosis as a worsening hard-currency shortage hits state health facilities, it was reported on Thursday.
Overcrowding and poor hygiene have seen increasing cases of TB surfacing in Harare. The high incidence of HIV/Aids — it affects one in five Zimbabweans — has also led to the spread of the highly infectious disease.
But storerooms are empty of the much-needed drugs, reports the state-controlled Herald newspaper. Requests for money to purchase the medicine are not being heeded, it added.
”There are no TB drugs,” acting director of health services Stanley Mungofa said.
Zimbabwe’s worst-ever economic crisis is affecting all sectors of society, not least public health. Last week the Herald said that there was a danger that unsterile implements were being used in at least three hospitals because a coal shortage meant that autoclaving machines were not functioning.
The Herald said that the city health department needed at least Z$22-billion Zimbabwe ($220, 000) every month to purchase drugs and maintain its clinics and hospitals.
”But treasury is not releasing the money despite requests to prioritise health,” said the paper. — Sapa-dpa