By Meditation Mposi
Chatikobo Clinic under Chief Murinye in Masvingo District has been operating without clean and safe water posing serious threats to patients mainly expecting mothers who often seek health care services there, TellZim News has learnt.
The situation is also exacerbated by lack of proper waiting mother’s shelter at the clinic, a development which forced some pregnant women from the area to give birth at home.
Speaking to this publication, District Nursing Officer Lilian Mumhuri said Chatikobo Clinic had been operating without running water since August 2019 and this forced patients as well as waiting mothers to bring water from their communities or fetch from the borehole which is close to a kilometre away.
“The clinic has been operating without running water since August 2019 and this forces staff members, patients, and waiting mothers to bring water from their homes, now we are using a borehole which is 800 meters away from the clinic, and that is where both patients and waiting mothers fetch water.
“There was a health scare at the clinic when we had cholera cases reported in the district because there was no running water for clients and patients to wash their hands as they entered and exited the premises,” said Mumhuri.
Mumhuri appealed to the government and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for water tanks and renewal of the water pipes.
“The clinic is appealing for water tanks and replacement of water pipes from government and other NGOs because without running water at the clinic patients will be exposed to infectious diseases like diarrhea and cholera,” said Mumhuri.
Local village head Nicholas Chatikobo said most women in the area were giving birth in their homes as the clinic had no proper waiting mothers’ shelter as the single room used at the clinic had no beds.
“The situation is dire for our women as most of them from surrounding villages are giving birth at home because the local clinic has no proper maternity house for waiting mothers. The clinic does not have a waiting mother’s shelter and waiting mothers are using a small single room at the clinic which does not have beds,” said Chatikobo.
Chatikobo said apart from the maternity house, there was no accommodation for members of staff at the clinic with the seven staff members using a single room each.
“The other problem is that there is no accommodation for staff members, the clinic has seven staff members and each has a single small room. The situation has resulted in professional staff always seeking for transfer,” said Chatikobo.
78-year-old Makanganise Zvandasara from Ward 15 said the community had tried to improve the situation by contributing money towards the construction of staff houses but had only managed to raise money for one room.
“Villagers from different communities have contributed towards the building of staff houses and have been bringing a US$1 per person for construction but we have raised a small amount which the clinic used to extend an old house with one room,” said Zvandasara.
TellZim News however could not establish the number of women that had given birth from their homes to substantiate the claims.
The clinic, which is about 90 kilometers from Masvingo CBD has a big catchment area and serves people in several wards including some from Zaka District, has been without water for close to five years after the pumps that were used to draw water from a nearby borehole broke down.
