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((INTRO))
[[Zimbabweans living on the border with Zambia are increasingly taking advantage of their neighbor's superior health care. But Zambian officials say they are also draining resources as nearly one-third of patients in some clinics and hospitals are Zimbabweans. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Lusaka, Zambia.]]
Content TypePackage
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/ScriptZAMBIA ZIMBABWE HEALTHCARE (TV/R)
HEADLINE: Zimbabweans Flooding Zambian Hospitals for Medical Care
TEASER: Experts say a dilapidated public health delivery system and expensive private hospitals are prompting Zimbabweans to cross the border
PUBLISHED AT: 02/23/2023 9am
BYLINE: Columbus Mavhunga
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Lusaka, Zambia
VIDEOGRAPHER: Blessing Chigwenhembe
VIDEO EDITOR:
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: DLJ, Reifenrath
VIDEO SOURCES: VOA Original, IK Charitable Trust
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 3:37
VID APPROVED BY: wpm
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO))
[[Zimbabweans living on the border with Zambia are increasingly taking advantage of their neighbor's superior health care. But Zambian officials say they are also draining resources as nearly one-third of patients in some clinics and hospitals are Zimbabweans. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Lusaka, Zambia.]]
((NARRATOR))
One of the people lying in this cemetery in Lusaka, Zambia, is Mervis Sibanda, a Zimbabwean who died earlier this month at The University Teaching Hospital, Zambia's largest hospital.
No one followed Sibanda to Zambia or claimed her body.
Lucy Kambanikwao, a fellow Zambian who befriended Sibanda at the hospital, had tried to take care of her. She explains how she felt burying Sibanda in Zambia, away from her relatives.
((Lucy Kambanikwao, Zambian (Eng))) ((20 secs))
“I was hopeless because the job was just too much for me. I couldn’t bear it. I felt bad as well, some just dying like that without her relatives."
((NARRATOR))
Kambanikwao said Sibanda had left three children in Zimbabwe.
Tafadzwa Masimba, a nurse from Zimbabwe who works in Zambia, says she understands why her fellow citizens are seeking health services here; it’s free to those
who can’t afford it.
((Tafadzwa Masimba, Nurse (Eng.)) ((20 secs))
“You can access any health service that you want at a government hospital, and then it’s usually for free. If you have to pay, it’s like you pay a very low amount — it’s very affordable. And there are also doctors here everywhere. There are doctors in the hospitals 24/7.”
((NARRATOR)) ((Mandatory CG: IK Charitable Trust))
Imran Raymond Vaidya is a social aid officer with IK Charitable Trust, a nonprofit that has been assisting foreigners, including Zimbabweans, who come to Zambia for medical treatment.
((Imran Raymond Vaidya, IK Charitable Trust (ENG))) ((22 secs))
“We normally assist foreigners, especially Zimbabweans, in repatriation to get back to where they came from. We also assist Zimbabweans in purchasing of spectacles. We also assist Zimbabweans in payment for spectacles. As you know, it is very difficult for foreigners, especially Zimbabweans, to be put under NHIMA.”
((NARRATOR))
NHIMA manages Zambia's national health insurance. Ministry of Health officials declined to reveal the cost of treating Zimbabweans in Zambia.
Natalie Mashikolo of the University Teaching Hospital says Zambians treat Zimbabweans as their relatives.
((Natalie Mashikolo, Public Relations Officer, University Teaching Hospital (Eng))) (22 secs))
"Obviously, if a patient from Zimbabwe comes through, it’s just automatic to know that when you look at them, you know that Zimbabweans cannot pay. That’s why we cannot turn them away, and when they discharge, we contact the embassy [of Zimbabwe in Lusaka] to see there is a way they can help. If they can’t manage to help, then we bring in our cooperating partners.”
((NARRATOR))
These cooperating partners include IK Charitable Trust, which assisted in Sibanda's funeral.
Many hope that Zimbabwe improves its public health system so that its citizens do not die abroad seeking medication, as in the case of Sibanda.
The embassy of Zimbabwe in Lusaka and the Ministry of Health in Harare could not be reached for comment.
((Columbus Mavhunga, for VOA News, Lusaka, Zambia))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Lusaka, Zambia
Embargo DateFebruary 23, 2023 19:11 EST
Byline((Columbus Mavhunga, for VOA News, Lusaka, Zambia))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
