BY DR MASIMBA MAVAZA
As Zimbabwe starts to ease the lockdown sounds of car and bus horns hooting the lockdown silence away. This is the sound of thanks and start of victory in a long battle against coronavirus. Let us carry this determination and settle for a long fight
The country must thank each person who is fighting against the novel coronavirus. People must not be complacent following the end of the strict lock down measures.
Just because the lockdown is eased it does not mean that we will celebrate. Do not consider this a success. If we come together, we can beat this big challenge. Corona is real and it kills. England has eighty thousand people who died in two months. Yes eighty thousand people.
But on this fight Zimbabwe must never forget the man who commanded the armies in the fight against Corona virus. The whole country was the army. The president of Zimbabwe was the Commander in Chief but the General of the multitudes is none other than comrade doctor Obadiah Moyo the minister of Health and Child Care. Cde ObadiahMoyo was born in Gutu. He married Lucy Memory. They have four children together and still counting Lucy willing. Obadiah Moyo is very educated medical man. He is a Member of Academic Board for Advisors, GET ConsortiumDr Obadiah Moyo is a visionary and creative leader with a proven trackrecord in both medical and executive management. He is an experiencedmanager who adopts a professional “hands on” approach. He is skilled inproblem solving and obtaining achievements by using initiative and driveto gain results. Believes in loyalty and commitment to an organization,utilizing available facilities and resources to produce the best possibleresults.He won several international awards in recognition of his contribution tothe international society in Nephrology and Pathology. Through hisachievements, he is rated as an eminent strategist in the medical industryin Zimbabwe and the region.Dr Moyo is a registered Renal Specialist and Consultant ChemicalPathologist. In 2000, he was elected as Deputy President of the HealthProfessions Authority of Zimbabwe and the Acting President in 2004. He isalso a founder member of the World Council for Renal Care and is also a founder of the Zimbabwe Kidney Foundation Renal Services where he serves as the Chairman and Executive Director.He was educated in Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom and theWest Indies, and has cumulative training and work experience of over a period of 39 yearsculminating in an expanded knowledge in Renal Medicine & Chemical Pathology.
He is a holder of a Master of Philosophy degree in Medicine (MPhil Med) from The University of Zimbabwe, earneda Doctor of Medicine degree (MD) from the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, St Lucia,West Indies, is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath), (UK), and holds aPostgraduate Award in the Management Of Chronic Kidney Disease from Warwick UniversityMedical School (UK).Research Interest :
Obadiah Moyo the minister of Health is a Zimbabwean politician and former hospital administrator. In 2018, he was appointed the country’s minister of Health and Child Care.Obadiah Moyo served as the Executive Director of The Zimbabwe Kidney Fund Association’s Renal Services and worked to bring more dialysis machines to hospitals. He has always respected the sanctity of life. He is a man so humble and a man who could if need be lay down his own life to save another. Of greater note minister Moyo was involved in providing dialysis care of cde Sally Mugabe, the former First Lady and the cde Robert Mugabe’s first wife, when she battled renal disease.Moyo showed great care and love for his work. In 2005, he was appointed as the chief executive officer of Chitungwiza Central Hospital where he transformed the hospital to be a Morden hospital.Dr Moyo held the position until 2019.Moyo was appointed as the Minister of Health and Child Care in September 2018 in the new dispensation of PresidentMnangagwa’s government.
Cde Moyo replaced Nyathi Dr David Parirenyatwa Sekuru.
Obadiah Moyo never had his ministerial position an easy way. He faced huge obstacles and the nation have him to thank for the way he steered the nation out of major outbreaks. In his first year in the ministerial role, the country faced a cholera outbreak it took his wisdom and good leadership skills to pull the country out of the pandemic. Moyo had a problem the economy was not on his side and drugs shortages vilified his efforts but he never looked back. Just as Moyo declared victory over cholera nurses and doctors strike over hospital conditions,a shortage of drugs and wages. Mostly there was a political dark hand in these strikes and daggers were sharpened against Dr Moyo.
He with the help of the minister of public service and some dedicated ministers knocked some sense into the heads of our nurses and doctors and a working point was established.
As if this was not enough Dr Moyo was faced with a world wide pandemic the Corona Virus.
Moyo had to call upon his guts wits and because of his hard work in March 2020, Moyo was appointed to lead the nation’s Coronavirus Task Force.
Dr Obadiah Moyo is a visionary and creative leader with a proven track record in both medical andexecutive management. He is an experienced manager who adopts a professional “hands on”approach. He is skilled in problem solving and obtaining achievements by using initiative and driveto gain results. Believes in loyalty and commitment to an organization, utilizing available facilitiesand resources to produce the best possible results. He won several international awards inrecognition of his contribution to the international society in Nephrology and Pathology. Through hisachievements, he is rated as an eminent strategist in the medical industry in Zimbabwe and theSouthern Africa region.The Ministry of Health under Dr Moyo with support from WHO and partners scale-up response to COVID-19 in Zimbabwe. As coronavirus disease (COVID-19 spreads rapidly across Africa, the Ministry of Health, and other partners have taken the necessary steps to mitigate the risk and interrupt the transmission of COVID-19. Zimbabwe has maintained its COVID-19 death on 4. Regardless our economy Dr Moyo has achieved what America failed to attain with their big economy. The country continues to face a huge burden of communicable disease outbreaks but against all odds the measures taken to curtail the virus in Zimbabwe seemed tough but proved to be effective.
Thanks to minister Obadiah Moyo.
In response to this, WHO and other partners have been supporting the Ministry of Health to enhance emergency preparedness and response interventions in line with the International Health Regulations and WHO Incident Management System.As part of the support, the Chinese Renovated the Public Health Emergency centre at Wilkins and many hospitals. In addition, the Ministry of Health in collaboration with other partners launched a national wide preparedness and response plan for COVID-19 aimed to support coordination and planning with other actors, surveillance, rapid response teams and case investigation, case management, laboratory testing, risk communication, community engagement and social mobilization, and infection prevention and control. In response to the conformation of COVID-19 cases, the country is conducting full outbreak investigation including tracing of contacts, intensifying surveillance, expanding case management capacity as well as mapping and training additional health personnel.Nurses and midwives as front-line health workers are playing a crucial role in supporting the COVID-19 preparedness and response activities to ensure the rapid identification of cases to stop transmission and prevent the spread of the virus in order to save lives.At the community level, Dr Moyo and partners have also intensified awarenesscampaigns on good hygiene practices and social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus. People exhibiting symptoms have been requested to isolate themselves at home and call the established helpline for immediate response.
With the help of the police those who escaped quarantine are being followed tracked down and imprisoned. “As we crossed 30 000 reported cases of COVID-19 in Africa we need to take a comprehensive blended strategy for controlling the epidemics”, The spread of this virus can be significantly slowed or even reversed through the implementation of robust containment and control activities”The Government of Zimbabwe is committed to do its best in the fight against COVID-19. A High-Level National Task Force led by the Vice President has been formed to oversee the preparedness and response to COVID-19.
Dr Obadiah Moyo has been screaming that“Stick to the rules on social distancing if you don’t want a ban on outdoor exercise.”On the issue of social distancing restrictions, Dr Moyo said No one would want to take such a measure if it could be avoided. It can beprevented if everyone continues to do the right thing.
That means staying athome, only going out if it’s necessary and keeping our distance if we do have to go out.“I am very encouraged by the extent to which people across Zimbabwe are following the guidance. The message for Zimbabwe is stick with the fightback against Covid-19. We must never let our guard down if we want to protect ourselves, protect our health service and save lives. Any hints of complacency and impatience must be strongly resisted.While the government is aware that“Further restrictions could also have consequences in terms of mental and physical well-being.“That’s another reason why we must stick with the fightback and all.
Covid is still taking hundreds of lives every day and so Zimbabwe must thank God for OBADIAH’s wisdom. Cde Obadiah Moyo said he was so grateful to see so many millions of people up and down the country following government advice this Covid time.
Every day the country spends locked down has an impact upon people’s mental health. They are becoming anxious about jobs and their economicfutures, and there is an increasing amount of loneliness especially amongst older people. So it is vital for the health of the nation that the lockdown does not last any longer than absolutely necessary and I know this will be weighing heavily on ministers’ minds now that we are looking forward to a review of our lockdown in Zimbabwe.
We have many people to thank in Zimbabwe. Our nurses and Along with delivery drivers, bus drivers and supermarket shelf-stackers, pharmacists are rarely the subject of Praise. Dr Obadiah Moyo has taken his hat off for them they have kept calm and carried on, putting themselves at grave risk every day to help keep us healthy. Our police and the army have risked contracting Covid but they trudged on. The pressure on Zimbabwe’s health system and its local pharmacies has been immense.
Our doctors in the fight against Covid remains a crucial part of the primary care health network, they are still seeing patients every day, face to face and often in small premises where social distancing is impossible. These are our heroes and they must be realised. Yet most have still not received enough personal protective equipment but Obadiah Moyo is trying his best to keep them and their colleagues safe, and report that the government’s PPE hotline considers them to be at high risk. We must ensure that those who are serving us and the people we care about are able to protect themselves.
The nation must put their hands together for the man who kept our fight against Covid on. Who has stopped COVID19 In it’s tracks.
Obadiah Moyo the minister who had never seen peace in his ministry. Bombarded by pandemic after pandemic but he did not fail the nation.
Zimbabwe is blessed to have Dr Moyo the man with a big heart.
