By Tatenda Mujeyi
The Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals has collaborated with Hunan Maternal and Child hospital of China in a cervical cancer screening project.
The screening collaboration comes at a time cervical cancer has accounted for the death of 275 thousand women annually, globally and is the most fatal cancer amongst women.
The programme is a broad Chinese Sustainable Development aim to see to the facilitation of the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal Number 3 on Good Health and Well-being by the Chinese Government.
“In response to the call for assisting in health delivery in developing countries including Zimbabwe, President Xi Jinping announced at the 2015 UN Sustainable Development summit that China will implement 100 Maternal and Child health projects in developing countries especially Africa”, the Chinese Ambassador Gou Shaochun said at the same event.
The equipment was donated through the collaboration of the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the Chinese Embassy through their sister Institutions Parirenyatwa and Hunan Maternal and Child Care Hospital.
“ I salute the collaborative effort by the two hospitals, Parirenyatwa and Hunan Maternal and Child Care Hospital in curbing Cervical cancer, the most common cancer amongst women.” The First Lady and Health and Child Care Ambassador Auxillia Mnangagwa said at the event.
The Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals was chosen as a center for the screening owing to the prevalence of Cervical Cancer in Harare.
“I have also noted that Harare tops the provinces in statistics of women affected by Cervical cancer and it is therefore befitting that the screening be done in Harare” she added.
The equipment will help in the early recognition of Cervical Cancer Screening and subsequent treatment of cervical cancer, the deadliest amongst women.
“ It is without any doubt that cervical cancer is a serious public health problem globally, not only in terms of it’s high mortality rate but also owing to the fact that depreciates the longer it takes to be recognised” the First lady also said at the event.
The equipment comes along with the technical human resources support team to train locals on using the equipment among other related technical support for the project’s implementation.
The equipment comes at a time most radio therapy infrastructure at Mpilo and Parirenyatwa are down owing to viability challenges which the Government has since dealt with.
“ We are well aware that the Radio Therapy equipment at public hospitals is currently giving some problems, my ministry has already intervened and availed the necessary foreign currency” the Minister of Health and Child Care Obadiah Moyo said.
The collaboration shows the mutual engagement of the two Government’s, Zimbabwe and China, in improving the health and well-being as a sustainable development goal.