Community village health workers are appealing to be recognised in the National Budget given they are usually sidelined on payment issues much to their displeasure.
By Kudakwashe Pembere
Formerly known as village health workers, these frontline health workers complain they last got their paltry allowances which come with deductions in 2019. Their call comes at a time the Health and Child Care Ministry has not been receiving from the Treasury the 15 percent of the national budget as espoused in the Abuja declaration which Zimbabwe signed up to.
“When we were trained. We were promised how we would work in the community, but nothing materialized. We were told we would get an allowance at the end of the month and the allowance was USD15 per month and a dollar is deducted for the bicycles.
“The USD15 allowances is supposed to come quarterly and from 2019 to date, we haven’t been paid. It comes in a staggered manner that we won’t know when it last came,” Mrs Concilia Mukarati, a community health worker said during the National Stakeholder engagement meeting organized by the Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) on Thursday.
Mrs Mukarati also said they are not given resources to use when working such as personal protective equipment, stationery and airtime. She said they had to monitor COVID-19 burials without any PPEs.
“We walked door to door sensitising the villagers on the importance of vaccinating their children and at times we faced resistance. But when it comes to payment, they said they would pay four or 10 community health workers, yet we are 25. When donors come with their programs, we will be working with them through the health and Child Care ministry but when it comes to payment, we are left out,” she said.
She told the parliamentarians they wanted to be considered in the budget allocation through the 15 percent budget allocation.
“The USD15 we get is measly and we are asking that you relay information that the USD15 cannot buy my groceries to sustain my family as I am a widow. When you are making this budget, may you please consider us because we are doing most of the work. We refer patients to nurses for we are the village’s first port of call. When it comes to payment, we are tossed aside as other business,” said Mrs Mukarati.
Buhera Central legislator Honourable Dr Mathew Nyashanu promised to take the village health workers’ issue to the Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube.
“My dear sisters, the village health workers, I take your plight. I understand where you are coming from. I am a rural MP. I happen to work with you in rural communities. Apparently, I am the MP for Buhera Central Constituency. So Buhera Central you know where it is, it is right in the centre of a poor community, and these are the challenges we meet with every day.
“People died when they gathered during the COVID19 pandemic at its height, and you would give them education. So those are the challenges we faced together. But we are going to make representations in Parliament this year so that we try and convince the Finance minister,” he said.
Meanwhile, as show of political will to upscale universal health coverage in his country, Kenyan President William Ruto vowed to mainstream the role of community health workers in Kenya’s health sector.
“We will mainstream the community health workers and make them the foundation of our health system,” he said.
