BY STEPHEN CHADENGA ABLUTION facilities at some Gweru City Council-owned clinics are clogged with medical waste, it has emerged.
Most of the affected clinics use the pit latrine system, but they have filled up and waste is overflowing.
The issue was raised on Tuesday during a Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Development Association Trust (Guprrada) virtual discussion on the state of the health facilities in the city.
A resident, who contributed to the discussion, said Mtapa Clinic was one of the facilities with clogged toilets.
“We now fear disease outbreak as a result of toilet blockages,” the resident said.
Guprrada director David Chikore said during a recent discussion with the city health director Sam Sekenhamo, it was revealed that “the blockages were mainly a result of ARV containers dumped in the toilet system by patients”.
Sekenhamo was not immediately available for comment, but when Southern Eye visited Mtapa Clinic to investigate, health personnel at the facility said some HIV patients shunned carrying ARV containers home and put the tablets in small plastics and dump bottles and boxes in the toilets.
“I think it’s just an issue of stigma associated with HIV and Aids where some people don’t want to carry their ARV containers to their homes,” a nurse told Southern Eye.
“After collecting their ARVs most patients then go to the toilets to empty the contents and throw the containers in the toilets.”
Residents suggested that council should provide bins at the toilets to enable patients to dispose of medical waste.
