By Ndatenda Njanike
 
SENIOR public hospital doctors have condemned most of the medical equipment and machinery that was purchased recently by the government from India at a cost of US$500 000 claiming it was unfit for their medical practice and only two percent of it was usable.
  
This emerged when the Senior Doctors Association (SDA) was giving oral evidence before the Parliamentary Health Portfolio Committee Tuesday.

The doctors said the purchased machinery was not fit for use in Zimbabwe while some key components of the equipment were missing.

Most of the incorrect machinery was purchased from India last year despite the doctors giving senior government officials a list of the equipment required for central hospitals to be fully functional.

“Some of the equipment has been deemed unfit for our environment, such as the theatre tables and anesthetic machines. However, the equipment awaits commissioning,” said one of the doctors, Shingai Nyaguse.
 
“The hospital equipment and maintenance department has reported that they are waiting for some parts of the equipment to enable technicians to assemble them.”
 
The senior doctors were represented by three doctors Nyaguse, Azza Mashumba and Faith Muchemwa.

“A group of five senior doctors representing the five clinical divisions that is, medicine, surgery anesthesia, pediatricians, and psychiatry were given the mandate to generate a list of equipment needed to immediately bring the health sector to normal function,” said Nyaguse adding, however, that the input from the three specialists was ignored and incorrect machinery was purchased.