The ManicaPost
Luthando Mapepa
Chipinge Correspondent
DEVELOPMENT partner — Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) — has handed over the Manicaland Non-Communicable Disease project to the Ministry of Health and Care after five years of partnership.
The project was mainly targeting rural communities in the province.
More than 3 000 patients with non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension received medicines at 11 rural facilities in the province.
Medical and laboratory equipment was also supplied by MSF at the facilities.
Speaking on the sidelines of World Diabetes Day commemorations at Chipinge District Hospital recently, MSF country director, Dr Reinaldo Ortuno said the main thrust of the project was to partner Government and augment resources channelled towards NCDs.
Dr Ortuno said the project also equipped health personnel with expertise on how to handle NCDs.
“We trained 40 nurses in offering quality diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of NCDs. In Manicaland, NCDs are now being diagnosed at primary health care level in the supported facilities,” he said.
Dr Ortuno urged Government to allocate more resources towards fighting NCDs.
“There is still a big gap in funding the management of NCDs. Our infrastructure cannot cope with the numbers and our facilities need to be upgraded. The number of health providers is not matching with the patients’ needs. Therefore more health care providers need to be equipped with knowledge and the tools to offer quality services,” said Dr Ortuno.
Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Deputy Minister Raymore Machingura hailed development partners for complementing Government’s efforts in providing health services to the people of Zimbabwe.
