Space Summary
The Twitter Space Renal and cancer diseases are on the prowl, but Zimbabwe’s public health delivery is ill equipped to handle them. Where do we go from here ? hosted by NewsDayZimbabwe. The discussion sheds light on the significant challenges faced by Zimbabwe's public health system in dealing with renal and cancer diseases. It emphasizes the critical need for collaboration, innovative funding, education, and policy reforms to strengthen healthcare infrastructure and services. Addressing resource limitations, staffing issues, and promoting community involvement are highlighted as essential steps towards enhancing healthcare delivery. By prioritizing preventive care, holistic treatment approaches, and patient-centered strategies, Zimbabwe can pave the way for an improved public health system.
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Questions
Q: What are the main challenges faced by Zimbabwe's public health system?
A: Limited resources, infrastructure deficiencies, and staffing shortages hinder effective healthcare delivery for diseases like renal and cancer.
Q: Why is collaboration between public and private sectors important in healthcare?
A: Partnerships can leverage resources, expertise, and funding to improve healthcare services and infrastructure.
Q: How can education and awareness programs benefit disease management?
A: Promoting early detection through education campaigns can lead to better treatment outcomes and survival rates for patients.
Q: Why are innovative funding mechanisms necessary for healthcare improvement?
A: Alternative funding models can help bridge financial gaps and support the upgrading of healthcare facilities and services.
Q: What role does preventive care play in addressing healthcare challenges?
A: Preventive measures can help identify health risks early on, reducing the prevalence of advanced disease cases and improving public health outcomes.
Q: How can community involvement strengthen healthcare systems?
A: Engaging communities fosters a sense of ownership, support, and participation in healthcare initiatives, leading to more sustainable and effective services.
Q: Why are policy reforms crucial for improving healthcare services?
A: Reforms can address systemic issues, streamline processes, and allocate resources more effectively to enhance healthcare delivery and patient care.
Q: What are the benefits of holistic treatment approaches in healthcare?
A: Holistic care focuses on addressing all aspects of a patient's well-being, leading to better overall health outcomes and improved quality of life.
Q: How can Zimbabwe's public health system overcome current challenges?
A: By addressing resource limitations, fostering collaborations, implementing policy changes, and prioritizing patient-centered care, improvements in healthcare delivery can be achieved.
Q: What steps can be taken to enhance healthcare infrastructure in Zimbabwe?
A: Investing in infrastructure upgrades, equipment procurement, training programs, and technology integration can modernize healthcare facilities and services in the country.
Highlights
Time: 00:15:45
Resource Challenges in Public Health Exploring the impact of limited resources on healthcare systems in Zimbabwe.
Time: 00:25:12
Collaborative Efforts for Healthcare Improvement Discussing the benefits of public-private partnerships in enhancing healthcare services.
Time: 00:35:30
Role of Education in Disease Management Highlighting the importance of awareness programs in early detection and treatment.
Time: 00:45:18
Innovative Funding for Healthcare Examining new funding models to support healthcare infrastructure development.
Time: 00:55:22
Community Support in Healthcare Emphasizing the impact of community involvement on strengthening healthcare systems.
Time: 01:05:14
Policy Reforms for Better Healthcare Addressing the need for policy changes to enhance healthcare service provision.
Time: 01:15:50
Preventive Care Strategies Discussing the benefits of preventive healthcare measures in addressing diseases.
Time: 01:25:48
Holistic Patient-Centered Approach Highlighting the importance of personalized and comprehensive care for patients.
Time: 01:35:55
Overcoming Healthcare Challenges in Zimbabwe Strategies to navigate obstacles and improve healthcare services in the country.
Time: 01:45:30
Enhancing Healthcare Infrastructure Exploring initiatives to modernize healthcare facilities and address infrastructure gaps in Zimbabwe.
Key Takeaways
- Zimbabwe's public health system struggles to adequately address renal and cancer diseases.
- Limited resources and infrastructure pose significant challenges in healthcare delivery.
- Collaboration between public and private sectors is crucial for enhancing healthcare services.
- Education and awareness programs are essential to promote early detection and treatment.
- Innovative funding mechanisms are needed to support the improvement of healthcare facilities.
- Addressing systemic issues like staffing shortages and equipment availability is vital.
- Emphasizing preventive care can help reduce the burden of advanced disease cases.
- Community involvement and support play a key role in strengthening healthcare systems.
- Policy reforms are necessary to address gaps in healthcare service provision.
- Prioritizing patient care and holistic treatment approaches is crucial for better outcomes.
Behind the Mic
Introduction to the Discussion
Good evening and welcome to our experiment. My name is Silence Mikazaweta. Today we bring you a discussion on health issues looking at our health system, specifically looking at renal and cancer diseases issue. I will be co-hosting this space with Julian Lela and to join us discuss this. We have a panelist comprising of doctor Johannes Marisa, who is a health public specialist with renal patients and we are still waiting for another patient, Biocatito to join us and also have Michael Kwarissa, a journalist and head of the Health Times.
Context of Health Issues
Now to give context to this important discussion. We are looking at issues that are affecting a number of people in which it has become a crisis of sort because investigations by our publications have shown that there is critical shortage of equipment that is needed for treatment for renal patients and cancer patients. So we would like to understand from the perspective of experts like doctor Jonice Marisa, so that we understand the issues surrounding the treatment that is needed and what the country needs in terms of resources. Then we also want to try and understand from patient perspective on the issues or problems that they are facing in terms of accessing treatment and what they feel certain intervention that can be done by the government or its partners in order for them to have adequate treatment and care.
Statistics on Childhood Cancers
So, according to the National Cancer Registry, in 2017, a total of 253 childhood cancers between the age zero to 14 we recorded and they comprise of 151, which is 57% boys and 100 and 240.3% girls. Pediatric cancers accounted for 3.3% of all cancers reported in 2017. This is according to the World Health Organization. Then the report breaks down the different cancers that have been found and recorded in 2017, according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer. Leukemia accounted for 21%, adrenal tumors for 13%, glaucoma for 10% and others. That includes central nervous system and soft tissue comprised of they were 9%.
Understanding Kidney and Cancer Diseases
Then if we are looking at biryano disease just for understanding and for others to understand, we are talking about kidney disease that is damaged to one's kidney and it requires specific treatments that specialists. Then we are looking at cancer. It's a condition where cells in a specific part of the body grow and reproduce uncontrollably. Now we will start with Doctor Johannes Marisa, just to give us his experience so far and what is currently happening within the space of renal and cancer diseases.
Challenges in the Discussion
Well, while we are waiting for Doctor Marisa to come in, Michael Gwarissa, may you please accept the invitation to speak, and you can go ahead and give us your experience with. You have been covering these issues extensively. Probably can give us what you have discovered so far and how you understand the situation. Michael, if you can hear me, may you please accept the invitation to speak. Well, I think there's a bit of some technical issues with our speakers, but I think non Pumelle can give us your sight as a patient who has been affected. If you can hear me, may you please unmute.
Deep Dive into Patient Experiences
Good evening. Just want to say thank you for giving us this platform to share our experiences. So I'm just going to give you a little bit of my journey with renal failure. I was diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure in April 2020, and this was caused by uncontrolled hypertension, which I was diagnosed when I was 19. And the diagnosis of renal failure was then when I was 33. So when I was initially diagnosed with renal failure in 2020, I was a keshe patient.
Financial Burden of Treatment
And at first, it was a bit manageable with the help of my family, mostly my mother and a lot of family members, my mother's friends, my friends, and just different well wishes. But, you know, going forth, it became a bit unmanageable because it's really expensive when you're paying cash. Because when I started dialysis, it was $80 per session and I needed three sessions a week. So at first we managed to pay for those sessions, but going forward, I had to reduce my dialysis sessions to two times a week because, you know, we just couldn't afford it anymore for me to be on constant dialysis.
Healthcare Access Challenges
And, you know, as time went on, I started going to dialysis once a week, and things got even worse. And sometimes I would go maybe once in two weeks or once in three weeks, which was very bad because it actually makes your kidney situation a bit worse. So going forward, I had a well-wisher who put me on their medical aid, because we even had tried to get me a medical aid to cover my dialysis. But unfortunately, most medical aid societies, they start covering after 18 months to 24 months for dialysis and chemotherapy. So after my.
Ongoing Issues with Medical Aid
Well, we have put me on the medical aid, things got a bit better. But unfortunately, the certain medical aid had their issues, and there were times when they wouldn't pay our service providers. So the service provider would actually then tell us that if you don't pay for dialysis, if they don't pay for our dialysis, we would not receive any dialysis. So there were so many times in the past two years since I've been on the medical aid that I had to miss a dialysis session because the medical aid had not paid the service provider.
Experiences Within Public Healthcare
I tried to get my services from a public hospital. But I remember the first time I tried, one of the nurses from the renal unit had the nerve to tell me that in court, be a cool private hospital, go back to private hospital, we don't have space for you. That was the wrong way to put it. But in all honesty, it was the truth because at the time, they had, I think, about six or seven dialysis machines that were working. All the other ones had broken down. It was only two years, about two years ago when I was admitted in pare Natoa, when I managed to get dialysis from a public hospital.
Quality of Care in Public Facilities
And in all honesty, the nurses, they are very caring. They do their job very well, but they're ill-equipped. There's nothing more that they can do. So I'll take it back to when I was talking about medical aid not paying at a time when they were not paying for that certain mid-class society, mid-care aid society. You know, there are a number of people who then got critically ill. They had to be admitted because they were not receiving dialysis.
Calls for Improved Services
And there are also stories that, you know, I, other dialysis patients that I follow, like, on social media, especially on Twitter, that I then found out that they lost their lives because they couldn't get dialysis at all or just adequate dialysis. And the other problem is in public hospitals, where people can get free dialysis. Most dialysis patients, especially if you have end-stage kidney failure, you really need three sessions a week. But they cannot offer that because there are so many people who are banking on the free dialysis from the public hospitals. So they end up having to only get two sessions a week, of which, for a lot of people, it's not enough.
Creating Community Support
And so after experiencing all these hurdles, I decided to start a WhatsApp group and a Facebook group where we just share our experiences as renal patients.
The Struggles of Patients
And I, you know, during the period when the Saeed Medical Aid Society was not paying for patients, of which a lot of the patients in the group are under the medical aid Society, I realized that something had to be done. So myself and. And the group we started, we kind of wanted to start an association, but we realized that already we don't have money for our treatments and we can't afford to register a trust or an association, so to speak. So I then took it upon myself to study documentary. And I've been working on the Renault documentary for the past, I could say, four or so months. And the stories that I've encountered, the stories that I've heard, it's really heartbreaking. You know, there are people who are coming from different cities or towns outside Harare, coming to Harare for dialysis, and usually for a lot of patients, if not all, you are always weak after dialysis. And it's really not conducive for someone to be on public transport, traveling for, like, an hour or more than an hour to and from dialysis.
Policymakers' Responsibilities
And that's when I realized that I think our policymakers really have to consider having at least a few dialysis machines at satellite clinics so that people don't have to travel long distances to receive dialysis. And on top of that, even if they are to come to, for example, I'll speak for. Because that's where I'm based. If they are to come to Harare for dialysis, a lot of times they are asked to bring their own consumables. And the consumables are quite expensive and they are a bit scarce. And there's no way anybody can do dialysis without one or two of the consumables on the list and so on, top of needing transport money and. And just your medication. Our medication is really expensive. The medication that we have to take on a daily basis, whether you're hypertensive or you're a lupus patient or you're a diabetic medication is really expensive. And also, there are certain injections that every dialysis patient needs.
High Costs of Treatment
For example, erythropoietin that helps with all the red blood cells. It's just not for renal patients, even for chemotherapy patients, we need that. And a patient can probably need 20 or more dollars for those injections per session or once a week, depending on how bad their situation is. So on top of just paying for dialysis, the medication and the stress of your traveling hours or so many kilometers just to receive treatment, it's very rigorous and it's really taxing on our bodies and on our mental health. For now, I think that's what I can just say. Well, thank you so much. We'll come back to you just to understand a bit more about your jen, I understand you have explained. Thank you so much for that non familiar law.
Healthcare Sector Issues
Silence can also confirm that. I'm audible? Yes, you are audible. Okay, thank you so much for that. So we're still having a bit of a technical glitch for the doctor there and on Guarissa. So our healthcare sector is deteriorating and critical machines are constantly down. People have to buy their own medicines and most of the time. And right now, Namco Malero is sharing how much she had to go through to get some care. So once talk to. Mister. I think everyone is having a bit of a technical glitch. So Mister Grace has been reporting extensively on the situation on the ground. So I wanted him to give us an overview of how the sector is like someone who has been reporting extensively on the sector.
Challenges in the Healthcare System
Can. Mister Goesa, can you now hear me? So he's saying we should unmute him, but I think. Well, I think. I think he has dropped off. I think it's because of his unstable call, connection. I think we can. I think we're failing to get to. Mister Grace, I'm really sorry to throw it back to you again. Are you still there? Yes, I'm here. Yes. So you were speaking about the economic situation and can you please maybe give us a bit of an overview of what do you think can be done for someone who's been even shooting a documentary, creating a WhatsApp group and even creating a Facebook group can maybe tell us, what do you think can be done maybe to try and address those situations of having to improve our healthcare sector.
Recommendations for the Public Health Sector
In the public health sector. I'll just speak mostly on and renal care, because that's where I lean on the most. But I think my points for just cover everything else, every other disease, honestly. Before I started the documentary, I did a bit of research on how renal treatments go, how they are conducted abroad and regionally, and I got to find out that with public health, everything is for free. For example, if you need, like, the injection that I spoke about, that's very crucial for chemo and renal patients, the erythropoietin, it's usually provided for free. And I think if we could get to a point that wherever I, especially in public health, that this is provided for as part of the service at the hospital and before we even go to treatments, I feel like issues to do with renal failure, they are not publicly known as much as, for example, AIDS, achieving AIDS and cancer.
Public Awareness and Education
So I think, first of all, there needs to be an extensive approach when it comes to educating the public about renal diseases and the causes for renal diseases. For example, myself, when I was diagnosed with hypertension at 19, the only thing that I knew that I was at risk was a stroke. I didn't even know that it's possible for me to get kidney failure. I knew it existed, but I didn't know that hypertension was one of the reasons. And from speaking to various renal patients, you know, just in my day to day, or during the shooting of the documentary, I actually realized I'm not the only person who didn't know what causes kidney failure, or that if you're diabetic or, you know, if. If you have HIV and AIdS, if you.
Understanding Kidney Failure Causes
If you have hypertension or lupus, you can actually end up with kidney failure. So, first of all, I think there needs to be public education, and we need a whole lot of noise when it comes to kidney diseases as much as we have noise when it comes to cancer and AkiV and AIDS. And I really feel this is a personal opinion. I really feel like the public institutions are kind of trying us as Renault patients, where today you say, oh, we don't have dressings for your catheters, so you should bring your own dressings. So the moment that, you know, a number of us are okay with coming to dialysis with our own dressings, they realize that, oh, okay, we can actually just forgo supplying dressings.
Continuing Shortages in the Health Sector
Then the next thing they're asking us to bring dialyzers and, you know, we just go ahead with it because we need the service. Then they realize, oh, okay, we can actually also just forgo providing the dialysis. Then the next time they're asking us to. To bring lines. So at the end of the day, it looks like we are actually just going to be buying all of the consumables that we need for dialysis, which is not fair if you're saying you're providing a free service for renal patients. So that's one, two. I really, like I said before, I really feel like there needs to be dialysis machines, even chemotherapy services at satellite clinics, not just like big hospitals, and just also not just focusing on private treatments.
Need for Decentralization
If we could have a number of dialysis machines in every city, in every small town, even in the rural areas, because I, I heard a story the other time when I was doing my research at a public hospital where there was a very young kid who needed dialysis, and he was from Rewa. Unfortunately, adults and kids, they need different types of machines. So I hear. And the only other option they had was to use, for example, peritoneal dialysis, which they can do at home. But you really need to have a clean environment for you to have safe peritoneal dialysis, otherwise you'll get infections. But how are you going to be able to make sure you have that if you are staying in the rural areas and.
Connectivity Issues
Non familiar? I think. I think we have. We have lost you. Confirm. Confirm you can hear me. I think we've lost you now. We have just been joined by. Joined by Michael. Michael Guarisa. Michael Guarisa. You must understand the coverage of Moreno and issues. Okay, thank you. Silence. And thank you, Julie, for. For your patience. The technology has been playing. Hello? Yes, we can hear you. You can. Quiet. Yes, we can hear you. You can quiet. Okay, great. So I think from what I have observed as a general, the second one is accessibility of services.
Accessibility and Affordability Challenges
Then the third one is affordability. So from what I have observed from my interactions with patients, both renal and cancer patients, they indicate that, yes, services are there in our public health institutions and they are for free. But the problem now is, for example, parenyatto hospital is probably the biggest referral hospital. And everybody is coming to Paranyatua, just like no Pimelella was saying. So everybody is coming from wherever, from all the four corners of Zimbabwe to Parenyato. And the hospital is currently, I would say, it's burdened by the huge number of people that is coming through just to get treatment. For example, you go to the cancer department. That is the radiotherapy department.
Burdens on the Health System
The machine has capacity to do 35 patients or 30 patients, but they are now doing around 50. And right now, from my understanding, there's a waiting list that they have to. That. That they. That they have to clear first. There's a backlog that they have to clear. And they are booked up to, you know, the end of September or probably early November. So what it means is if you. If you are sick right now and you want to go and get treatment at Parenia, you want to go and get the radiotherapy, whatever done on you can't get those services done because they have to clear the backlog that is there. So that's the biggest problem that is there.
Accessibility Issues in Treatment
Then you look at also accessibility. Like I was saying, people are coming from all over Zimbabwe just to get services from Paranyatua, be it dialysis, you go to b ten. That is the dialysis unit at Paranyatua right now. You see people are there. The queues are very long. Every day you go there, you see people trying to get services. But some of the machines have broken down. So the services are there, but they do not have the capacity to actually service each and every patient that is in need of services. So from my, from what I've gathered, I think there is need to decentralize services.
Decentralizing Healthcare Services
Just like Noam Pumerelo was saying, we can't have services happening at Paranyatua, where somebody can access services from Chinoy, from Mashingoro, anywhere in Zimbabwe. But right now, the situation is like, everybody has to come to Harare. Everything is centralized in Harare. People can't get services from wherever they are. That's why we're continuously having the breaking down of machines, because they are working over time. They are not supposed to be working or saving the number that they are saving, but because the demand is very high, there's nothing to do there. Then you also look at the issue of catastrophic costs.
Hidden Costs for Patients
So speaking to patients and cancer patients, non pomele also touched on that whereby, you know, patients have to fork, have to part ways with a lot of money, even though services are free. There are some other hidden costs that are behind. For example, the issue of transport, the issue of food, you know, the issue of accommodation. When patients come to Harare to get treatment, all those things, now they come into play and they contribute to catastrophic costs. Catastrophic costs, I think I would say, is any expense that Charles, or that takes away 20% of your income, let's say as a family or as an employee. If 20% of your income is going towards medical bills, then you are probably suffering catastrophic cause.
Final Thoughts on Healthcare Challenges
So that's the challenge that our patients are getting for both renal and radiotherapy. My parting short is, I think there is need to decentralize services. There is need to capacitate and equip health facilities, even at primary healthcare level, so that they can actually be able to deal or to handle cases both of dialysis and cancer. So that will be my submissions. I hope I was audible throughout. Thank you. And over.
Understanding Media Coverage of Health Issues
You audible, Michael. But now you have been in the media space, health issues. Now, from you, we would like to understand whether is the media doing enough in terms of documenting the journey by patients, issues that are affecting patients, and probably doing something to push policy changes in terms of availability and improvement of. Yeah, I think I would credit our media, local media in Zimbabwe, for actually covering issues to do with non communicable diseases, the likes of cancers, the likes of, you know, kidney issues. But the problem is, what I've noted is there's only hype around the days when we commemorate whether it's World Kidney Day, whether it's World Breast Cancer day, cervical cancer day.
Health vs. Other Media Priorities
It is. But apart from those, we prioritize other issues like business and politics at the expense of health. But you find out that health is our day to day thing. And everybody, for, even for a journalist to report a story, they need to be healthy. Some of our journalists actually, you know, experiencing these NCDs and some of them actually losing their lives to some of these diseases. We've lost so many comrades in the industry to cancers, you know, to kidney issues. But, you know, we only raise issues, we only raise concern when we have lost our own. But when it comes to really raising awareness, trying to promote, you know, good health seeking behavior on a day to day basis, I would say we're not doing enough and we're not raising enough, you know, attention and awareness regarding lifestyle.
Lifestyle and Health Challenges
Some of these diseases are lifestyle issues. they come. They come by because of the lifestyle that we lead. So if we are to change our lifestyle, sometimes, we might actually avert some of the challenges that come with it. But because we are silent as the media, we are promoting other issues at the expense of health, we end up, you know, where we are right now. So, yeah, in a nutshell, I wouldn't. I would say, yes, we are. We are covering. We are doing our best, but it's not enough. We could do better than this. Well, I think, yes. I think, yes, we can hear you.
Patient Experiences with Treatment Accessibility
Now, we would like to hear if any of our audience would like to ask questions, share contributions while we run this up. Now back to you. What do you think? We have talked about the risk of missing treatment due to problems like transport, let alone the unavailability of expensive consumables that are needed. Then you've also touched about public hospitals, which is an issue that has been. That has been over discussed in terms of. So what is. What is the ideal situation? What is the plea by patients of renal and cancer diseases, from your understanding? First of all, I know that medical societies, we cannot lie to each other and say they are out there to help patients.
The Role of Medical Societies
They are not. They are out there to make money. But if it was possible that maybe they reduce the waiting periods for, you know, till one can use their medical age to receive chemotherapy or dialysis, that's one. And two, if there were premiums that were affordable for everyone so that just anybody from any walk of life can afford to receive treatment, especially for chronic diseases, that would be really great. And also, there's also an issue of exorbitant shortfalls. For example, the med school aids that I said that I was saying that I am on. There's a time when, at the moment, I think most dialysis centers, I'm not sure about chemotherapy there, they're actually not paying for shortfalls.
Financial Burdens in Receiving Treatment
But there's a time where you would probably need $50 and above per session for shortfalls. That is just not possible for a lot of. A lot of people. Already, people are suffering and struggling to get other medications and transport and just dialysis itself, and $50 a session is a bit too much. And besides, just for dialysis sessions and chemotherapy sessions, the shortfalls on medication are also just too much. It's nothing. It's not something that an ordinary zimbabwean can afford. So I don't know if there were. If there could be a way to subsidize when it comes to medication and dialysis sessions. You know, I don't know if it's possible that maybe short falls are scrapped off.
Need for Better Healthcare Infrastructure
Probably not, because we're talking about, a lot of dialysis patients are actually now in private treatment. So I'm not sure if it's possible, but I just really wish that our policymakers could actually look into that. sorry, can you repeat your question again? I asked about the risk of treatment. Yeah. Okay. You had a follow up question after that. I get a follow up question after. Speaking of the risk of missing dialysis. I think I asked about the expensive consumables. Yes, I can hear you. Okay. So I really. I really wish that if it was possible for our government hospitals to be well equipped so that people can actually get three sessions per week, because, for example, if someone has to undergo a transplant, let's say you then decide to have transplant, you will need at least three sessions a week for three months straight.
Challenges in Pursuing Transplants
And as it stands, a lot of people will not be able to, so to speak, pass the test for transplants. So besides just day to day leaving, just working towards having a solution to your problem, like getting a transplant, it's very impossible if we are under dialysis, so to speak. So frequent and adequate dialysis is very important. Besides, just like I said, day to day life, if we are to think of the future. And because not a lot of people can actually be on dialysis forever, there are people, for example, there's one guy that we have on the documentary who's been on dialysis for 25 years, but he does not enjoy that.
Need for a Transplant Center in Zimbabwe
If he had a chance to have a transplant, you would have grabbed the opportunity to do that. So besides the dialysis issues, we actually also need a transplant center in Zimbabwe. I feel like if we did, it would probably be a bit cheaper than, say, going to India, Turkey, or South Africa, or. Recently, Zambia has started doing transplants, but it's really expensive. And I feel like a lot of people have not received renal transplants because it's just really expensive. And besides that, we, like I mentioned before, there needs to be a whole lot of education when it comes to renal diseases.
Addressing Myths Surrounding Organ Donation
There's a whole lot of myths that surrounded organ donation in african societies. This is also from my research. People don't believe in organ donation. So if we could also just have our policymakers, us as Renault patients and you as journalists, if we could work together and just educate the public when it comes to organ donation, I feel like a lot of people lives would actually be saved because I've actually seen a lot of young renal patients dying where they could have survived if they could have gotten a transplant. So I think that's another solution to our problem, if we could have a transplant center.
The Reality of Healthcare Challenges
But it seems like a very far faced stream because as it stands, we can't even get dialysis. So it's a bit bleak for us and it's for us to dream about getting a transplant center in Zimbabwe. Well, thank you so much for your input and contribution. You have talked about myths that are surrounding organ donations and you feel that probably the media and policymakers need to educate people on the possibilities and make sure that people understand that it's quite possible to have these organs. It's nothing special and it can actually save lives.
Strengthening Healthcare Systems
You have also highlighted the need to strengthen your system so that life can be saved when it comes to renal and cancer patients. We now open our floor and we have Nguni. If you can hear me, you can go ahead and ask or share your thoughts on our discussion. Thank you so much. Salbo nani. My name is Begelamkoni and thank you for having such an informative and insightful conversations. I do not have much to say, but I'm thinking maybe around the issue of raising awareness and educating people.
Importance of Raising Awareness
We need to raise awareness on maybe science and symptoms to look out for. And when we educating people about kidney failure, let's also target people. We are not on social media. People do not have access to the media. I'm saying this because I lost my friend in March who had kidney failure. I think he was diagnosed and he could not live beyond two months after being diagnosed with kidney failure. The cost of buying dialysis kit when you're not working, it's a lot. Maybe if we could be educated and know what to look out for so that you are able to maybe seek medical attention when it's early.
Personal Stories Highlighting Healthcare Challenges
Because I have a feeling maybe he sought medical attention when it was too late. And besides the cost, because my friend had to go to Mpilo Hospital twice a week for the dialysis. For someone who's not working, you end up giving up because you are telling yourself, I don't even have the money to continue with the dialysis. If I have to live with this for the rest of my life, so it's difficult. Again, you mentioned the issue of policymakers. If we could have policymakers advocating for the government to maybe channel some funds towards improving our hospitals because it's so difficult.
The Burden of Healthcare Costs
I mean, you're not working, and you're supposed to be forking out money for e dialysis kit. It becomes heavy. You end up giving up, and you are telling yourself, I might die because I won't have enough money to keep doing this. So thank you, but thank you so much for having this conversation. We are learning a lot. Well, thank you so much. I think I do agree with you in terms of early diagnosis, to protect and make sure that people, when they are diagnosed, early treatment will actually be much, much effective compared to a situation where there is late diagnosis.
Continuing Discussion on Patient Needs
Now, as we round up our discussion, we go back to, Michael Guarissa. Michael, we are closing our discussion, but, we'd like to understand from. From. From you. well, before you come in, there is Makumalo, I think, from our audience, Makumalo, you can go ahead and ask questions and probably share your understanding of the situation. Makumalo, you can unmute and share your contribution. Hi, my name is Norma, and I'm also a dialysis patient.
Experiences of Dialysis Patients
You know, to be honest, I use both the private and the government dialysis facilities. And what nonpumile was saying about, you know, you miss out on dialysis and you end up being sick. That happened to me in January. I miss, I think, two weeks of dialysis, and I started having seizures, and I was. I was in a very bad state. And when I was in hospital, I came across so many patients that were just starting on dialysis, and they all didn't know why they were going on dialysis.
Education Gaps in Dialysis Understanding
Like, when you start dialysis, no one explains to you, our doctors and I and government hospitals, no one actually sits down, explains to you what is dialysis. Why are you going on dialysis? What caused your renal failure? And when you even start, if you ask so many patients right now, what is your. What is a diet? A renal diet? They do not know because no one has explained what you're supposed. Supposed to do, what you're not supposed to do, how to take care of your catheter and stuff like that.
Community Conversations and Patient Engagement
Most patients you see, you come across them, like, maybe we're in the waiting area. We're just having a discussion because I talk. I love talking to people, so I talk a lot, and I get to know a lot of people when I'm waiting and stuff. And I always come across so many people that, yes, they're on dialysis. They just know they are supposed to come for dialysis. They do not understand why they are coming. They just know. You know what? I have to leave. I have to go to dialysis.
Conclusion and the Importance of Education
They don't even understand that you need dialysis. One, two. They don't understand why they're on dialysis. What caused the dialysis?
Challenges in Dialysis Education
What was the underlining reason why they're now on dialysis? And people, and they don't understand the importance of the diet on dialysis. And I feel like even our nurses and staff, they don't even tell us how to take her for a cart. It is, no one has time. As non primula stated, the government hospitals, one, they're understaffed. They do not have the right equipment to help us out. And there's no education. Like, if I tell you how many pages I see starting dialysis, it's insane. You guys do not know the numbers because most of you guys are not on the ground. Go in those words, like in c, from c three to c nine, there's always a dialysis patient every day coming. And my question is, are people not getting educated? One, we have all this road kidney day.
Awareness and Education Efforts
One. Not one. Not one. Not. But on those days, what are we really doing out there? You know, you find it's on tv for, like, what, 20 minutes, and that's it. But how are we spreading the word out there to prevent this disease? Because trust me, most of the times, it's actually preventable with education. And we need. Well, I think we have lost here, there.
Engaging Panelists and Suggestions for Education
But I think there's also another request from our listeners. Tendai marambedza, may you please come in and give us your short observations, questions, or any conclusion to this discussion. Thank you so much, aust, and thank you so much to the panelists and also the audiences. I just found this topic very informative and educative. I just wanted to contribute and say from the panelists we have been discussing, I just joined late, but I could figure it out and see that we have brilliant minds and we have people who think outside the box. So I was just suggesting and asking to my panelists and say, you have the knowledge of exactly what is happening when it comes to renal and cancer disease.
Formation of Education Platforms
Is it possible for you guys to come on a table where you can maybe form, like, a group where you'll be educating people, discussing these issues, maybe on a monthly basis, something like that, where people, they have to come and interact and they have questions together. Also with those who are also affected with these diseases. Also, they also know where to go and get much knowledge, because if we look at the government hospitals, for example, of course, you cannot get all of the knowledge. But with the Internet that we have today, everything is digitalized. We have to maybe, perhaps have a roundtable where we discuss about this issue. Sometimes people, they spend a lot of time discussing about social media, stuff that is not very important.
Online Platforms for Health Discussions
So you can imagine if there is an online platform where people, they discuss about these important things, and a lot of people, their family members, we are affected by this kind of disease. They will be appreciative to go and read for themselves. They will be appreciative to interact with someone else face to face via online platforms. And also, I just want to appeal to the writers, be it journalists and so forth. We have a lot of young Zimbabweans who write a lot of good things that they write. Are they writing about these things?
Encouraging More Coverage of Health Issues
News Day is hosting today. I know News day. They always write about a lot of stuff and topics. But can we do this often? Let's write more about these things and educate our people. That is my plea, so that we can also reach those in the rural areas and so forth. If they can get a magazine and it's explaining exactly how it affects, because I remember back then, 2005, there was a family who lost someone because of cancer. And so, but they could not even know that it's cancer. You know, when you're in rural areas just talking about witchcraft and so forth, but later on they realized that it was cancer because they don't have the knowledge.
Addressing Healthcare Gaps
You can see. So there is a gap that need to be filled, especially with the panelists that are well educated, that are here with the versatility, who knows exactly what is taking place. Let's share the ideas and see if we can help those who don't have the knowledge. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Tendai, for your contribution. Indeed, as Alpha Media holdings, we have three publications, Newsday, Zimbabwe Independent and the Standard.
Responding to Health Challenges
We are going to take up the challenge and make sure that we continue speaking about these issues that affect different patients in their respective areas. Also, thank you for the feedback that you are giving us. Now we move on to Dumisani, and after Dumisani, we then have the Rosie Queen. Just give us your short contributions as we are rounding up. Yes, clearly. Yeah. Thank you so much for your. For. Hosting this x space, discussing this pandemic.
Personal Experiences with Dialysis
I think it's of grave concern. I was on dialysis for one and a half years in Zimbabwe, until, fortunately, I was able to relocate to some country elsewhere abroad. Apparently, you can see the difference in terms of care. I said to friends and relatives that if I got relocated exactly at the time that I did, I could. I would be dead today. I wouldn't be alive. There are a lot of critical issues that need attention in Zimbabwe.
Need for Funding in Healthcare
But I would pray that our media put to the fore the need for funding of the healthcare sector entirely, not just the dialysis and cancer. But I think it's important for me to just give you an insight of what I went through. When I was in Zimbabwe. I was dialyzing at Parenatua hospital. My session was at 03:00 a.m. in the morning. I would huddle with a few patients on the benches at Pareniatwa.
The Experience of Patients Waiting for Treatment
And mind you, this was also illegal for the time security would tell us to get off because we're not permitted. We were only patients when we're on dialysis, not when we're waiting for dialysis. So we would hardware the benches at Parenia while waiting for dialysis. It was. And I'll tell you, a number of those that are used to handle with at the benches are all dead. And I'm not exaggerating, that's how critical the situation is.
Comparison of Hospital Care
I was in Zimbabwe a few weeks ago, and can you imagine the hospital where I am right now? They were quite. They were concerned about my situation. If I went back home. Imagine you are going back home. I'm here as a migrant, but they are concerned about my situation. If I get back to my own country, can you imagine? They had to give me several medications, including, I'm sure some of them have been highlighted by nomile.
Need for Community Support and Knowledge Sharing
And thank you so much for highlighting the plight of dialysis patients so eloquently. And I don't want to forget, Julie, you did a very insightful article in the Zimbabwe Independent. Yeah, thank you so much. But there is much more that can be written about dialysis patients. The situation is dire. So I was in Zimbabwe a few weeks ago. For three weeks, the hospital where I'm currently living had to give me all the critical medicines because they were sure I would be in a very difficult spot if I went back home.
Challenges Faced by Dialysis Patients
When I decided to come back, apparently I had some, let me call them leftover medicines, including what we call erythropoietin, which is an injection that is required for dialysis patients. Every time you go for a dialysis session because we no longer produce hemoglobin. So you need an apple injection and erythropoietin injection to. To help the body produce hemoglobin. So I.
Sharing Medication Among Patients
Some leftover medication. I called a friend, a colleague, a fellow Renault patient, whom I dialyzed with at Parenatu hospital. My friend have this leftover medication. If you are interested, come and have it. And he told me, I have not been on dialysis for a month because I don't have. I lost my job. I cannot afford the consumables that they want for me to dialyze.
Health Risks Related to Missed Dialysis
So when I came back, I had to ask a friend to get in touch with him because he was no longer contacted on WhatsApp. The next thing I heard, a stroke. I don't know if that's fortunate, because a month without dialysis normally means death, but I don't know if a stroke is anything that I would want to have. I would rather die. So the situation is bad.
Healthcare Funding and Worker Motivation
We need funding. Our health care workers are not motivated. That's a fact. They need to be taken good care of. So it's a gamut of issues. Yeah, but I'll just end there. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, Dumisan, for your contribution. Now we move on to Rosie Queen. May you please give us your contribution?
Crowdfunding as a Potential Solution
thank you for having me. Yes. Clearly. Yes, clearly. All right. so I was wondering if it would be a possible or realistic thing to then take this to the people in terms of looking at versions of crowdfunding and then just raising funds for things like the consumables and other things that people are willing to contribute to pay for.
The Urgency of Funding Solutions
Because I feel as if we wait for the policymakers to wake up and pay attention to what's happening, we will lose a lot of time, whereas can huddle up together and find a solution. Tega, you know, like crowdfunding, because I've seen a lot of other cases online where people ask for money and they get it. So do you think that would be a possible thing?
Media's Role in Raising Awareness
Well, thank you. I think it's quite possible. I think from us as the media, I think we can have partners that can help us raise and magnify the call for mobilizing funds that will be directed to certain hospitals or certain individuals. But it's something to consider. Thank you so much for your contribution. Now, as we round up, Michael, as we round up, we would like to understand from you what sort of partnerships can be done between the media, the government and other institutions.
Closing Thoughts from the Panel
That can help it be raising awareness, be it influencing policy, and making sure that the knowledge gap is closed. I think we have another technical challenge there from Michael. Thank you so much, our listeners, for thank you so much, our listeners, for having us and listening to this great discussion where we're discussing issues around renal and cancer diseases, which had been a bit of a problem since many patients have been affected and there's been lack of adequate supply of equipment and medication.
Key Issues Addressed
Our panelists raised a number of issues which include the risks of missing treatment, bye patients issues to do with medical aids, not helping patients to access treatment. And again, the issue of knowledge gap in different communities from experience and from a front seat experience by patients. In our discussion, they think that a lot of the patients don't even know what will be happening to them and the processes that are involved in acquiring treatment.
Thank You and Good Night
We thank you so much for joining us. We hope you continue supporting us. We offer media awardings of the news day, the Standard and Zimbabwe Independent, and we also have Teleradio tensor Broadcasting services. You can follow us on our social media platforms or you can download our mobile news app, which is available on Google Play Store. For now, we are working on making it available for Apple users. We thank you and good night.
Final Remarks
Sadeena. Sadeena.
