David Gracey, the Australian professor from Sydney University donated an ultrasound machine to Harare Central Hospital. The hospital did not have such a machine and it will go a long way in the administration of first class treatment.
Dr Gracey, who is also a physician at Royal Prince Albert Hospital in Sydney is known for nephrology (kidney) research and has been active in Zimbabwe. Through the International Society of Nephrology he is responsible for various programs that have been developed in this country.
The ultrasound machine, sourced from Toshiba, that he donated to Harare Central will
help guide biopsies, diagnose heart conditions and assess damage after a heart attack,
as the clinical director at Harare Central Hospital, Mr Vera put it. The ultrasound machine will help in the performance of various other scans and diagnoses.
Getting the machine through customs in Harare was difficult as Dr Gracey’s husband shared on LinkedIn, which I do not understand. I understand that there are security and various other concerns but why make it difficult for someone to help thousands of Zimbabweans.
As Zimbabweans we are grateful for people like Dr Gracey but we do not want to have to wait for good-hearted people like him. The average price of ultrasound machines is around $115,000 and an E-class benz costs over $50,000, both prices being before shipping and for the car also before Zimra’s cut. You wonder why we were buying these cars for public servants whilst Harare Central Hospital had no ultrasound machine.
Some low end ultrasound machines cost as little as $25,000 and right there goes whatever excuse the government could have. This skewing of priorities is an African problem even as the Ugandan government bought an $88,000 porn detection machine when there is no functional radiotherapy machine in the country.
Can the government do more to provide Zimbabweans with better healthcare? I believe they can. For now we are thankful for what a foreign individual has done, and we truly are grateful but this should stir the government to action. We also have some famed ‘millionaires’ who brag and boast on social media who could get involved too.
5 comments
I agree with you there. We are always waiting for foreigners to do things for us. There was a tale of an MRI machine at a government hospital that was sitting for 2 years, because it didn’t have a licence or something from government to operate. It made no sense why government wouldn’t licence a machine at a government hospital. 🙁
I think this happens because someone out there gets all the ultrasound referrals from Harare hospital and kicks back to officials to make sure an in-house machine is not bought. Private imaging centres can charge whatever they want, whereas as government institutions have regulated prices.
I believe it is Harare Hospital as well. It is said to have an MRI machine(not top of the range, but it’ll do the job) already installed in the Casualty Section of the Hospital. The regulatory authority, is indeed a government body. It becomes difficult to understand whether the regulatory body is just delaying or if there are real safety concerns, because the regulatory body is quite known for delaying issuing of licenses and for making things unnecessarily difficult. This might bring up speculations of whether there is some Private Sector interference for fear of losing market share and significance, though this seems less likely since they have top of the range machines.
Are you sure there wasn’t an ultrasound machine at Harare Central Hospital. I’m sure there was, ask radiography department. Ofcourse, there wasn’t a Toshiba Ultrasound Machine that I knew of, but I’m sure they have one, if not two or three ultrasound machines in the radiography department (one must be mobile machine). One of the larger machines is a Mindray DC-8, one of the best ultrasound machines.
There was no ultrasound machine. On the dead bc news the head of medicine at Harare Central said they did not have one. He said it was difficult to get it and said now that they have one they can do more.
Thank you for your contribution. And we trust that it will bebefit the communitybthat is in need. Rather than just the wealthy. It is a pity Harare gains all the resouses leaving the rest of Zimbabwe not equipped at all.
If another opportunity arises please can we give other regions. Thank you