China loan-backed facility upgrade to benefit 90 Zimbabwean hospitals

Shipments of new medical devices ranging from basic hospital beds to sophisticated magnetic resonance imaging machines, backed by a 100-million-U.S.-dollar Chinese loan, are arriving at Zimbabwe, where the health sector cries for a major overhaul after more than a decade of economic decline.

Representatives of China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), the contracted supplier, told Xinhua Friday that while the most sophisticated facilities will be installed in the hospitals of Zimbabwe's two major cities Harare and Bulawayo, more than 90 hospitals including smaller ones in rural areas and clinics across the country will receive some of the shipment to alleviate dire health facility shortages.

"All of the procured equipments are of top quality, made by either world recognized manufacturers like Siemens Healthcare or first-class emerging Chinese medical device makers," said CMEC representative Zhang Xin. "With the aid of these equipment, health service of this country will improve, medical costs lowered, and operation risks averted."

According to CMEC, the contract, worth 100 million U.S. dollars, was signed between the company and the Ministry of Health and Child Care in June 2009 with China Export and Import Bank as the financier. The contract was put into force in June 2013 when the first loan was furnished. Around 11 shipments were scheduled from then to June 2015.

Zimbabwe boasted of one of the best health sectors in southern Africa in the years after its independence in 1980. But more than a decade of economic meltdown since the late 1990s had eroded the once glorious health system, sending packs of professionals in exodus and medical facilities deteriorating.

China has aided Zimbabwe across fields. It has been dispatching medical teams to the country since 1986 and has sponsored building hospitals and clinics in rural areas.

The Chinese doctors in Zimbabwe said they also felt the pain of inadequate medical facilities. Luan Hongliang, a doctor who has been working in Harare's Parirenyatwa Hospital, said even in Harare there are very few computed tomography devices and even fewer magnetic resonance imaging machines. The supply of equipment from China came at the right time.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who officially commissioned the equipment at Harare Central Hospital Thursday, thanked China for providing the loan to cover the high expenses for procurement and delivery that the government otherwise couldn't afford.

He said the state-of-art facilities would contribute positively in retaining medical personnel who otherwise were frustrated by using dilapidated tools.

Zimbabwean Minister of Health and Child Care David Parirenyatwa said China's support would allow a near quantum leap in advancement following difficult years and sets Zimbabwe on the path to timely adopting appropriate technology.