The Sunday News
Tendai Rupapa in Kanyemba
MRS Rains Zuze (50) from Kanyemba has for the past two months been walking with a limp because of the sharp pain in her abdomen.
She couldn’t seek treatment because of lack of funds. In any case, she was unsure when she would be examined by a doctor amid reports that medical practitioners visit this hard-to-reach area near the country’s border with Mozambique twice a year.
Zuze, however, has her lucky stars to thank after the country’s health ambassador First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa visited the area with a team of medical experts providing free cervical cancer screening services, dental care and other health checks to the community. HIV testing and counselling services and voluntary male circumcision were also on offer.
“I am thankful for the assistance we are getting from our mother. Ever since she entered office up to this day, our mother is remembering us here in Kanyemba. I have been having uterine problems for two months but today she has come with doctors,” said an elated Zuze.
“I did not have money to travel to Zambia or Mozambique for treatment, but today I have been treated free of charge by doctors. May God bless Amai Mnangagwa for us,” she said.
For villagers in Chidodo, Chikafa and Kanyemba, Christmas indeed came early and everyone was on cloud nine. Mrs Sarah Chivaro (66) was at a loss for words.
“I am grateful to Amai, the First Lady, for what she has done and continues to do for us. She has brought a clinic to our doorstep.
We feared trudging through the big forest, which is full of lions, to get to the nearest clinic. I had never been screened for cervical cancer and this is the first time. We had never experienced such love from a First Lady since Independence.
We are truly grateful,” she said while dancing and ululating with joy.
Mbire district medical officer Dr Edwicks Chidziva said the response to the health services that had been rolled out by the First Lady was welcome and well-received.
“Since Monday, through the advocacy of our First Lady, who is also the ambassador for health in Zimbabwe, we have been going around the hard-to-reach areas mainly in Mbire District — Chidodo, Chikafa and Kanyemba, which are marginalised areas along the border between Zimbabwe and Mozambique,” he said.
“We have been offering cervical cancer screening, where we screened women of child-bearing age for cervical cancer.
We were also offering dental services for those in need and we were also offering other services as HIV testing and counselling, voluntary medical male circumcision.
We also had a youth-friendly corner where youths had a chance to talk with their peers who have been trained on issues to do with sexuality and general hygiene.”
Dr Chidziva said people were appreciative of the services that had been rolled out for their benefit by the First Lady. He said on average they were serving around 200 to 300 people daily.
“This is a service that was brought to the hard-to-reach areas and the response was very good. This is a service that was brought to the people, to where they are, where they are living. In years past in Zimbabwe, the major cause of death was HIV, but since the advent of ARVs, we have noticed that our main priority is now shifting to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which are cervical cancer, breast cancer, hypertension and diabetes mellitus.
“These conditions are mainly treatable when they are detected early because if you get your medication for your hypertension or diabetes mellitus, you actually live a healthy life,” he said.
Dr Chidziva said cervical cancer caused more deaths in women of child-bearing age, but if it is screened, detected and treated early, one can actually live a healthy life. He praised the First Lady for the outreach programme, saying it would go a long way in saving lives. Amai Mnangagwa also had her blood pressure checked to motivate other people to do so.
People being screened and vaccinated for Covid 19 and other ailments during First
Speaking on the sidelines of the health delivery service programme, youthful Miss Neophelus Simon, a member of the Young People’s Network under the National Aids Council, showered the First Lady with praises.
“We represent young people and teach them about the challenges that we face here in Mbire District like early marriages and early pregnancies. These challenges are associated with complications like operations, fistula and even death while giving birth.
“The other challenge is that children are engaging in unprotected sex and contracting sexually transmitted infections. Here in Mbire District, 20 percent of STIs are among young people and on figures of early marriages, 218 are for 2021. There are 91 early pregnancies here in Mbire. So, we are rallying behind our mother, the First Lady, who is speaking out against marrying off of young girls. She is refusing that children engage in sex at a tender age.
We are her ambassadors and children’s advocates because we are the future leaders. If we do not do so, the Mbire community will collapse,” she said.
So meaningful are the health services to the people of Kanyemba, Chidodo and Chikafa communities because they neither have money nor access to alternatives. Surely, one does not need special eyes to see that the Mother of the Nation has the people at heart.
