Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare, one of Zimbabwe's leading hospitals, has been without electric power for the past four days, say medical sources there, leading operations to be canceled and leaving doctors and nurses reliant upon generators to provide light and run equipment for only the most critical and urgent procedures.
Health Minister Henry Madzorera told VOA he was waiting for a report on the situation and for information on what was being done to resolve the power outage.
Elsewhere, Britain's Department for International Development said Wednesday that it has spent $3.5 million this year to refurbish seven major hospitals.
British aid official David Fish, in handing over a rehabilitation center to Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo, said most of Britain’s $130 million 2012 aid package would go to restoring essential health and education services in the country.
"We can see some of the positive impacts of UK funding today in Mpilo Hospital and the six other hospitals which have benefited from this program," said Fish. He noted that the British program is also providing drugs to 1,300 primary car clinics and rural hospitals, and making antiretroviral treatments available to more than 40,000 people.
Chairman Douglas Gwatidzo of the Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights told VOA reporter Sandra Nyaira that such assistance from donor countries and organizations is vital to the rehabilitation of the country’s still-ailing health delivery system.
