Copied from Dominic Muntanga’s Facebook Wall.
Last week Zimbabwe’s First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa visited Mbuya Zinyoro, a member of St John’s Apostolic Church of the Whole World, who helped more than 70 mothers successfully deliver babies.
This story has been the subject of much debate. The issue highlights how angry people have become over the deteriorating health care.
The anger and genuine concerns notwithstanding, this issue also dramatizes classicism, which sometimes leads to lack of pragmatism and disconnection between the masses of our people and others, especially the middle class in urban areas.
We must not only be careful not to throw away the baby and bathwater, but also find ways to bridge the gaps between the needs of the poor and the not so poor as well as the well to do.
Most people are angry that instead of advocating for healthcare services to be improved, the first lady is celebrating a symptom of the decline of our healthcare. That people have to go to Mbuya Zinyoro is because clinics are not working!
They accuse the first lady of keeping quiet about the fact that her husband’s Government has fired doctors at a time when hospitals are closed because of lack of both human resources and medicines.
The first lady’s act, though personal, is also political in part because of who she is. That the Herald, which is considered a government mouthpiece, not only put this story on the front page, but also used the story to rubbish the plight of doctors proves this point.
The Herald wrote that, “Unlike hospitals and clinics, the midwife…provides her services for free.” as if to say she is far better than the hospitals and clinics.
While most people can live with a Mai Fafi donating to Mbuya Zinyoro, most believe that the first lady’s donation plus the propaganda that juxtaposes the selflessness and heroism of Mbuya Zinyoro against the doctors and nurses, who continue to be called names for wanting living wages and implements to do their work, is a demonstration of the political nature of the donation.
In fact, it shows that Government has abrogated its duty of care. People are also angry that some of our Ministers go abroad to seek medical attention and their children are born in world class hospitals at the expense of the tax payer. But, they expect our children to be delivered by the likes of Mbuya Zinyoro.
The solution to address our healthcare challenges is known: Government must provide free or paid healthcare, which is a right, in line with the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
To do so, they must simply buy medicines, pay doctors and nurses a living wage and ensure that hospitals and clinics are running. In the year 2019, there is an expectation that children must be born in a medical facility with amenities and qualified people to address any challenges that arise.
As such, celebrating the fact that a midwife delivered babies against the background of a deteriorating system, is seen as nothing but lack of the duty of care. People are angry at the first lady because they believe that she is normalizing the abnormal.
I understand the anger. But, now, let us focus on Mbuya Zinyoro and other midwives, lest we throw away the baby and bathwater.
Midwives have and continue to do an excellent job to help mothers, especially the marginalized, give live births. They are the first line of defense against Maternal mortality in Zimbabwe, which currently stands at 614 deaths for every 100,000 live births. This is one of the highest maternal mortality rates worldwide (UNFPA, 2019).
In 2010, it was even worse as this rate was 960 deaths per 100,000 live births. Thanks to donors, who provided support to train and deploy thousands of midwives as well as improve the pre-service training of midwives, thousands of children are alive today.
There are people who feel that using a midwife is a reflection that we are going backward instead of forward. These people would like to see all children being born in 21st Century top of the line facilities.
The reality, however, is that our country still has numerous challenges. Access to a qualified health worker remains a challenge. It varies according to rural or urban area, as well as by province.
About 86% of women in the urban areas had access to skilled providers during delivery in contrast with 58% in the rural areas (UNICEF, 2015).
For us to address these challenges, we must take a pragmatic approach. Midwives are a great solution and a step up from untrained folks. For the majority of our people, especially those whose religion does not allow them to use healthcare facilities and those who have no services, we should find a way to improve current standards so that midwives help women to give birth in safe, secure, and sanitary environments to reduce the high incidents of mortality.
We should look at incremental growth to get to the promised land. Right now, we have millions who do not even have access to healthcare services. We must help them, but do so within our means.
Midwives do an excellent job, especially where better options are not available. Yes, we can question why we do not have better options in the first place, especially given the country’s wealth and against the consistent pilferage of billions that could have gone to healthcare, but the reality still remains that we do currently do not have better options. We must distinguish between “what is, and what could be”. What is, is!
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