Vivian Mugarisi Herald Reporter
Public-private sector partnerships play a crucial role in the improvement of health facilities in Zimbabwe, Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa has said. Speaking at a ceremony to launch the country’s first Orthopaedic Implant Centre in the capital last week, he said: “We want to see the health sector thriving and as Government we will support the private sector because we need to create more user friendly healthcare facilities in the country,” he said.

“The private sector will not prosper if the public sector is not doing well. We encourage public-private sector partnerships to help improve our public health institutions so that we can reach the poorest of people and leave a legacy for our children to fall back on.”

Dr Parirenyatwa said public-private sector partnerships could also help the country reduce its reliance on foreign support.

The Trauma Centre and Hospital Harare Orthopaedic Implant Centre is a privately owned healthcare institution which will now offer total hip replacement (arthroplasty), bipolar hip replacement (hemiarthroplasty), total knee replacement (knee arthroplasty) and the partial knee replacement                                                                                                 (unicompartmental anthroplasty) operations.

TC&HH chief executive officer Dr Vivek Solanki said his institution would work with all healthcare stakeholders to ensure improved health delivery.

“We pledge to work together with other hospitals to improve health services, utilise skilled indigenous, local orthopaedic surgeons and introduce competitive surgical packages to cater for different socio-economic groups,” he said.

The centre will be charging US$11 000 per patient for the joint replacement surgery.

South African and Malawian surgeons charge US$14 000 and US$9 000 respectively for the service.

Most patients requiring hip and knee replacement surgeries had to go outside the country to be treated.

Major treatment destinations were South Africa, India and Malawi.

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