Tinashe Sambiri
Zimbabwe’s opposition leader, Advocate Nelson Chamisa, has expressed deep concern over the country’s worsening healthcare system, calling for urgent reforms and visionary leadership to restore dignity and efficiency to the nation’s hospitals.
In a statement released on Monday, Chamisa emphasized that hospitals should serve as sanctuaries of healing and rejuvenation rather than symbols of decay and neglect. He painted a hopeful vision of modernized healthcare institutions, equipped with state-of-the-art technology and infrastructure, positioning Zimbabwe as a potential hub for medical tourism in Africa.
“Just imagine our hospitals being equipped with the latest technologies and modern equipment. Our hospitals being places of healing and revitalization,” Chamisa wrote. He stressed that achieving first-class health facilities is not a technical impossibility but a leadership imperative. “The tone is set at the top. A country takes the shape of its leadership,” he added.
Chamisa’s remarks come amid a protracted crisis in Zimbabwe’s public healthcare sector, characterized by underfunded hospitals, chronic drug shortages, and the mass exodus of medical professionals seeking better working conditions abroad. For many Zimbabweans, accessing basic healthcare remains a daily struggle, with dilapidated facilities and understaffing compounding the challenges.
The opposition leader believes that with the right leadership and political will, Zimbabwe can transform its ailing health sector into one of excellence. “Zimbabwe will be known for medical tourism. We will be renowned as a healing nation. Yes, a healthy nation and a healed people. It’s possible. We will do it,” he asserted, using the hashtag #JustImagine to rally support for his vision.
Chamisa’s call highlights the growing frustration among citizens and civic leaders over the state of public services in Zimbabwe, particularly as healthcare becomes increasingly inaccessible to the poor. His statement is both a critique of the current administration’s management and a rallying cry for a new path forward—one that places health and human dignity at the forefront of national priorities.