ZIMBABWE has
been hard hit by an acute shortage of forensic pathologists, a development that
has stalled investigations in a number of serious murder, robbery and other
related cases that require post-mortem and other special forensic reports.
In the interim,
one local doctor who specialised in histopathology is assisting the nation in
handling all such cases countrywide, confirming a crisis which calls for urgent
action.
The doctor has
an added qualification in forensic pathology. He is based at Harare Central
Hospital and all other provinces rely on him.
The situation
was exacerbated by the recent departure of three Cuban pathologists who have
been rendering the special service.
The trio left
Zimbabwe for Cuba in the first quarter of 2019, with the last one having
departed end of March.
Police chief
spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi bemoaned the crisis saying
action must be urgently taken to oil the wheels of justice.
Asst Comm
Nyathi said at least 10 bodies are on the forensic pathologist’s waiting list
as the only available specialist was being overwhelmed by work.
“Zimbabwe
Republic Police (ZRP) has at least 10 outstanding pathological reports and the
investigations in respect of those cases are moving at a snail’s pace.
“We understand
the delay is due to the huge volumes of work faced by the available forensic
pathologists,” he said.
Minister of
Health and Child Care Dr Obadiah Moyo said he will engage the central bank for
foreign currency to bring more pathologists from Cuba and to cater for their
needs.
“We have
already liaised with Cuba and some pathologists are prepared to assist us here.
“I am going to
engage the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe for financial assistance to facilitate the
travel and other requirements of the experts,” said Dr Moyo.
The Herald
understands Cuban pathologists want to be paid in foreign currency and such
arrangements have to be made in advance to ensure their safe stay in the
country.
Asst Comm
Nyathi hailed the Ministry of Health and Child Care for the special service
which helps in police investigations.
“We appreciate
what the ministry has been doing, providing experts to do post-mortem and
compile forensic reports to ensure the success of our investigations.
“It helps us to
gather the much needed evidence for our investigations and prosecution of
criminal cases,” he said.
The Director of
Pathology in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Maxwell Hove, said the
situation was desperate and Government should quickly come up with a solution.
“We have a
serious problem. We have been relying on Cuban pathologists, but the three who
have been assisting us, have since gone back to their country.
“We only have
one pathologist for now, our own doctor that we have to send to KwaZulu-Natal
for training.
“He is based at
Harare Hospital. On Monday and Fridays, he will be at Harare Hospital.
“On Tuesdays
and Thursdays, he will be at Parirenyatwa Hospital. When the Cubans were still
here, they would go to Chitungwiza on Wednesdays,” said Dr Hove.
He added: “One
person cannot manage to do all that. We get so many cases of murder from the
police and the only pathologist that we have is failing to cope.
“We need more
pathologists from Cuba to assist us.” Dr Hove said
Zimbabwe has no capacity to train forensic pathologists.
Most medical
practitioners, Dr Hove said, were afraid to testify in court, hence shying away
from specialising in pathology.
“We have an
adversarial legal system. It is adversarial in the sense that if an ordinary
medical practitioner does a post-mortem and goes to court, he or she gets
grilled because the defence lawyer simply wants to clear the suspect.
“So most
practitioners have shied away from pathology because of that,” he said. Herald
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