By Ashley Phiri – ashleyphiri66@gmail.com
For 83-year-old Christian Nyathi, from Robert Sinyoka Village on the outskirts of Bulawayo, accessing basic health services is a serious challenge. He relies on a mobile clinic that visits the village once a month. The nearest clinics are at Khami Maximum Prison and in Pumula East suburb.
This issue is not unique to him but affects over 300 other senior citizens residing in peri-urban areas, including Robert Sinyoka, Methodist Village, and St Peters. Receiving timely medical care is difficult.
With painful joints and limited mobility due to age, Mr. Nyathi and his peers endure in silence, further discouraged by the unavailability of required medications at the two nearby clinics.
“As senior citizens in a peri-urban area, receiving timely medical assistance is very difficult. We cannot walk to a clinic at either Khami Maximum Prison or Pumula East suburb because many of us have painful legs now. Additionally, even if we manage to find money for transport and make it to the clinics, the medication we need is often not available, and we cannot afford to buy it on our own,” said Mr Nyathi.
For many years, the mobile clinic primarily served children and adolescents, leaving elderly residents with little support for chronic non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, and dementia.
However, two years ago, Island Hospice and Healthcare began providing essential medications to senior citizens from Methodist Village, Robert Sinyoka, and St Peters Village, marking a significant improvement in healthcare access.
Island Hospice and Healthcare not only supplied medications but also empowered the elderly economically by training them in Internal Savings and Lending Groups (ISALS) and educating them about their rights. This initiative was meant to help them build capital for small projects to improve their livelihoods.
Their motto, “Old enough to retire, young enough to enjoy,” inspired many seniors to stay active and engaged.
However, despair has spread among the senior citizens as Island Hospice announced the termination of its project, leaving many wondering how they will manage without these vital services.
“Island Hospice had given us a lifeline; they were providing us with free medication in addition to various training that empowered us economically and socially. Now, we are wondering how we will survive going forward. Personally, I don’t know where I will find the US$42 required for my medication every month, and I know I’m not the only one,” said 70-year-old Ms. Margaret Moyo from Methodist Village.
The senior citizens voiced their concerns during the belated World Health Day commemorations, where they gathered to discuss the announcement. With only two months’ worth of medication remaining, they are calling on other organisations to step in and continue the health programme.
Many seniors who had not yet formed ISALS groups fear they will not have money to buy necessary medications. The senior citizens also highlighted how the lack of other essential services, such as access to water, negatively affects their health.
“When we commemorate World Health Day, we are not only focusing on diseases but also on the quality of life. Here, we face issues that affect our quality of life. We have a problem accessing water; there is water rationing, and as old people, we can’t carry buckets to the community boreholes. Queuing for hours is exhausting for us; some of us can’t even carry a gallon of water. We also struggle to access the right kind of food for a healthy diet due to droughts and unemployment,” said Ms Julliet Bethule from St Peters Village.
Island Hospice Project Officer and Social Worker, Mr. Nkosiphile Moyo, stated that the organisation has engaged the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development to ensure the continuity of the programme while encouraging more older persons to form ISALS groups to improve their livelihoods.
“Our programme had been ongoing for three years. We started this project to improve the quality of life for 5,000 older persons in Marondera and Bulawayo, specifically targeting those with life-threatening and life-limiting illnesses. We also aimed to increase the income levels of 360 vulnerable older persons and their households to promote the development of age-friendly policies and practices at the community, provincial, and national levels,” he said.
