ZimSmart Villages deploy “health agents”
MOREBLESSING MARANGE
ZimSmart Villages and partners will this Saturday launch a historic ‘mudhumeni weutano’ initiative in Nyanga South as part of their e-health and telemedicine programme to bring health care to marginalised communities.
In partnership with stakeholders including mobile network operator, NetOne, AB Communications and local Member of Parliament, Supa Mandiwanzira, the programme will see deployment of agents for health under the ‘mudhumeni weutano’ banner and provide essentials to ensure villagers have access to doctors virtually.
ZimSmart Villages Chief Medical Officer, Dr Admore Jokwiro, says the initiative will effectively stop travelling long distances in pursuit of health care as the services will be availed on the doorstep.
“This initiative is built around the concept of guaranteeing universal health access and we are doing this by deploying a cadre who we are calling Mudhumeni Weutano who is going to have a Starlink mini station, a power station, a bicycle and other digital health products and equipment allowing conducting of telemedicine consultation remotely by a Doctor placed in urban areas,” Dr Jokwiro said.
“These consultations can now be done in the homes of people staying in rural areas and remote places. We understand that 67% of our population in Zimbabwe stay in rural areas where we have people walking long distances for them to be checked for blood pressure and other things now the Mudhumeni Weutano is a paradigm which follows the concept around moving from hospital to home, from sickness to prevention and from analogue to digital.”
Saturday’s event will be hosted at Chief Hata’s homestead in a move that shows the initiative has blessings of traditional leaders.
