By Sizalobuhle Khumalo
This March we woke up to the news that an initiative dubbed Save Our Hospitals “aimed” at capacitating Zimbabwe’s five major hospitals had been set up by “veteran” journalist and documentary filmmaker, Hopewell Chin’ono.
The five hospitals targeted were Harare, Parirenyatwa, Mpilo, Chitungwiza and United Bulawayo Hospitals.
Chin’ono told Zimbabweans that he had managed to put together a group of volunteers drawn from different spectrums of the society to spearhead this initiative.
We were told this group included, human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, international banker Pindie Nyandoro, eye surgeon Dr Solomon Guramatunhu, former mayor of Harare, Ben Manyenyeni, retired Anglican Bishop, Chad Gandiya and practicing senior doctors including London based HIV specialist Dr Charles Mazhude.
Chin’ono’s benevolence would for a minute make a number of Zimbabweans believe that indeed new patriots had been born post-November 2017, not knowing that we were being sold a dummy.
In hindsight, it’s good that the initiative suffered a still birth, in particular at this hour when the true colours of Chin’ono, like a snake shedding its skin, are coming out.
I feel sorry for some well-meaning Zimbabweans who had offered their services for free to be part of that initiative.
Nevertheless, it is indeed good that since March we have not heard anything from the initiative itself or what became of it.
What we all hear is Chin’ono boasting every day about his “medical sources” who are giving him information to share on social media on his futile attempts to ground the health service delivery system.
The way Chin’ono has and continues to be cheering the doctors to go on with their strike does not speak of a person who at some point indeed wanted to save our hospitals. No!
It is clear that Chin’ono in fact has been on an agenda to destroy our health service system from the very beginning. If there are, any doubting Thomases listen to his recent statements, on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s trip to the Global Fund Conference in France and the subsequent pledge of US$1 million to the Fund.
What Chin’ono forgets is that this is the first Global Fund Conference to be attended by the New Dispensation, notwithstanding, the warm relations Zimbabwe enjoys with France.
It was good that President Mnangagwa attended the Global Fund Conference as a statement that, Zimbabwe’s commitment to the Fund, under the New Dispensation is unquestionable.
Whereas, Chin’ono and his like-minded cronies will go on to complain about the token pledge of US$1 million, they are silent of the benefits that we have received from the Fund over the years having contributed the same amount of money.
For a country under sanctions to contribute US$1 million is a great show of commitment to the Fund.
A simple google search will show Zimbabwe has successfully scaled up interventions to respond to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, thanks to the Fund.
The country recorded a 30 percent increase in the number of people on antiretroviral therapy in 2014 and 2015, and has achieved almost universal diagnosis of malaria cases before treatment. Zimbabwe has had an increase in tuberculosis treatment success from 79 percent in 2014 to 83 percent in 2015. More so the country’s leadership role in increasing domestic financing through the AIDS levy is regarded as an international best practice.
Could it be that Chin’ono is being angered by the fact that Zimbabwe will in the next few months receiving a grant from the Global Fund. His tone speaks of someone who wants Zimbabwe to fail in this regard, so that more than a million beneficiaries could die, making real his self-fulfilling prophecy and gloat singing his “I told you” mantra. But it won’t happen, simple. I pray for the day your medical sources see you for who you are, not what you purport to be.
