Harare, (New Ziana)-Zimbabwe has only one qualified local forensic pathologist, a situation that presents a major challenge in conducting post-mortems, particularly in murder cases.
Responding to questions in the National Assembly, Health and Child Care Minister Douglas Mombeshora said the shortage is due to brain drain and a lack of interest among local doctors to specialise in that field.
“Lately, we have faced significant challenges with post-mortems, especially forensic ones. These specialised procedures are conducted by forensic pathologists who possess training and expertise beyond that of general pathologists. Currently, we have only one qualified forensic pathologist in the country. We have been relying on recruiting from abroad,” he said.
He said the government will soon start training more forensic pathologists and it is expected that by next year training of more forensic pathologists will start, and within four years, the country could see a significant increase in the number of local specialists in the field.
Dr Mombeshora said three forensic pathologists have also been hired from Cuba since it has been extremely difficult for one person to travel across the country and attend to cases, especially in district hospitals.
He also pointed out that many mortuaries across the country lack the necessary equipment for conducting forensic post-mortems, resulting in bodies being moved either to Sally Mugabe, Parirenyatwa, or Chitungwiza Hospitals in Harare while in Bulawayo, they are taken to either Mpilo Hospital or United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH).
“The pathologist would then allocate specific days to travel to Bulawayo or conduct examinations in Harare. With the arrival of the three new forensic pathologists, we hope to extend services to other provincial hospitals where equipment is available,” he said.
New Ziana
