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Bridget Mavhimira
Features Writer

A group of medical doctors recently joined hands to launch an initiative meant to improve the lives of families of health workers who have succumbed to Covid-19 over the past two years.

The Zimbabwe Medical Awards Trust (ZMAT) launched the Good Doctor Initiative in October last year to  assist with school fees, food, uniforms among other material things.

The initiative also aims to conduct medical outreach programs where the doctors will go around communities conducting free medical check-ups and treatment.

ZMAT chairperson Dr Jeosephat Chiripanyanga said so far, the programme had helped to pay for school fees for three children whose parents had died due to Covid-19.

“Firstly we are targeting children of departed medical professionals be it nurses, doctors, pharmacists and anyone who was a medical personnel who lost their lives to Covid-19.

“So far we have helped three children, one boy who is in Form III whose father was a doctor and two girls who are still in primary school whose mother was a nurse.

“So far we have offered financial aid as we are paying school fees and as the term is starting we are hoping to buy them uniforms so they continue their education,” he said.

Dr Chiripanyanga said the initiative aimed to reach out to as many families as possible and last for a lifetime depending on their financial stability.

“The number of children we will assist will depend on the financial stability that we are going to have.

“If we are going to have more good people out there who are willing to help we will take as many as we can,” he said.

The trust has partnered with FBC Bank to finance the initiative with more corporates expected to come on board soon.

Dr Chiripanyanga added that the medical outreach programmes would commence before April.

“The other function of the good doctors is for us to do medical outreaches where we go to rural and underprivileged communities to consult with patients and treat people for free,” he added.

Pharmaceutical and Chemical Distributors (PCD) have offered to assist with medication and other medical sundries to be used during the outreaches.

“So far, PCD has offered to work with us and we are hoping to get some equipment to enable us to start our outreaches,” said Dr Chiripanyanga.

ZMAT was founded in October last year to celebrate medical professionals and specialists on the work that they do, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Good Doctor Initiative is run by a trust. The chairperson is Dr Chiripanyanga, the vice is Dr Karim, secretary general is Mercy Mushaninga, treasurer is Mr Adson Chitsva, board members are Sisters Mundipa and Murira who are nurses and the legal adviser is Mr Manyangadzi.

The trust held the inaugural Zimbabwean Medical Awards in December.

The initiative is also a charity association that also facilitates projects for these families.

Workshops that will be facilitated by the Good Doctor Initiative will teach medical professionals how invest and so that their families are taken care in the event of death.

This ensures there won’t be such situations where orphans fail to go to school.

The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted many countries.

Some health workers were partially or fully reassigned to support Covid-19 responses.

Zimbabwe reported its first case of Covid-19 on March 20 2020. Since then the cases have increased.

In the fight to curb the pandemic, some health professionals have succumbed to the virus leaving their children with no financial support.

More healthcare workers continue to succumb to the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between 80 000 and 180 000 healthcare workers worldwide might have died from Covid-19 by May 2021.

Zimbabwe has also been affected, with some health workers having succumbed to the pandemic leaving their families behind.

This has had an effect on the health delivery services offered to citizens.

Covid-19 affects different people in different ways.

Most infected people will develop mild to moderate illness and recover without hospitalisation. Containing and mitigating the spread and infection rate of the virus continue to be essential.