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Liberty Dube Mutare Bureau
ILLEGAL sourcing of medication from Mozambique is posing a threat to Manicaland’s health delivery system as some of the drugs end up being abused.

This emerged during a malaria advocacy meeting in Mutare on Wednesday. The meeting heard that smugglers were bringing in prescription drugs which have now flooded the streets of Mutare and other towns.

In her presentation, Manicaland provincial health promotion officer, Mrs Agness Mugumbate, said poor health seeking behaviour was one of the major contributing factors in causing an upsurge of disease transmission in Manicaland.

“Risk behaviours in malaria control and prevention such as sourcing medication from illegal medicine dealers such as street vendors are some of the major challenges we are grappling with in fighting diseases like malaria.

“There are also religious beliefs on malaria treatment, low knowledge that the use of long-lasting insecticidal nets is an effective malaria prevention method, low perception on malaria severity, among other challenges. For instance, on indoor residual spraying nets, some households refuse to have their houses sprayed or some re-plaster or wash the walls after spraying,” she said. One of the people in the meeting said: “People are crossing into Mozambique where they are buying prescription medication from street vendors. They come back and sell the medication on the streets.

“Some people who do not want to pay more at clinics, hospitals and private doctors end up buying these drugs which have side effects for their health. It is important for communities along the border to get proper health education from health workers in their areas.”

Manicaland tops other provinces in malaria morbidity and mortality in Zimbabwe because of its proximity to Mozambique where it is reported there is drug resistant malaria.

Speaking during the meeting, Mutare City Council acting health director, Mr Simeon Mashababe, said heavy rains received this year hampered efforts to fight malaria in the city.

“This year was bad. There was a lot of rain, therefore, there were many pools with stagnant water. Stagnant water breeds a lot of mosquito and our efforts to conduct individual residual spraying were affected.”