Nyazura, Zimbabwe – Bright fluorescent lights reflect off polished floors as Anymore Kadzunge returns for a routine check-up at a telehealth center that played a pivotal role in diagnosing the illness she had battled for months.
The 38-year-old farmer sits quietly while a nurse wraps a blood pressure cuff around her arm, the device beeping moments later to deliver the reading.
Just months prior, Kadzunge had been unable to tend her fields or prepare meals for her family. She spent three months enduring chest pains and dizziness before walking 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) from her village of Chimbondi after a friend told her about the facility.
A nurse discovered her blood pressure was dangerously elevated and connected her with a physician via a video consultation.
“The nurse tested my blood pressure, but the reading was extremely high,” Kadzunge told Al Jazeera. “I then spoke to a doctor through a video call.”
She was diagnosed with hypertension and prescribed medication, which she continues to take daily, leading to a significant improvement in her condition within days.
Bringing Medical Professionals Closer
Kadzunge’s experience reflects a growing nationwide effort to bring medical professionals closer to rural communities in Zimbabwe, where years of economic hardship have left the public health system grappling with shortages of medicines, equipment, and medical personnel.
The programme was launched in 2024 by ZimSmart Villages, a Zimbabwean technology and innovation organization, in partnership with NetOne, the state-owned telecommunications company, and Zimbabwe Posts (Zimpost), the state-owned postal and courier service.
The programme connects patients in remote communities with healthcare professionals who provide digital consultations, reducing the need for lengthy journeys to see a doctor in person.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Zimbabwe had 1.7 doctors for every 10,000 people in 2022, compared to Africa’s average of 2.6.
For many rural residents, in-person medical consultation requires expensive travel. Without the Nyazura center, Kadzunge would have needed to travel 22 kilometers (13.7 miles) to Rusape, a town in eastern Zimbabwe, or 70 kilometers (43 miles) to Mutare, the capital of Manicaland province.
Ambulances are limited in many rural areas, forcing some families to transport sick relatives to health facilities using ox-drawn scotch carts, a common method of rural transport.
At the Nyazura center, registered nurse Noreen Chimanya checks patients’ vital signs, including blood pressure, blood sugar levels, and temperature, before arranging video consultations with physicians. She also administers prescribed treatments and refers severe cases to hospitals.
“When we opened in May 2024, telemedicine was entirely new to this community,” Chimanya told Al Jazeera. “People were accustomed to speaking to doctors in person and receiving physical examinations.”
Building trust required months of community outreach. Chimanya traveled to surrounding villages to explain how virtual consultations functioned.
“They appreciate this facility because there are no queues,” she said. “At public health facilities, people spend hours waiting to be seen.”
The center uses Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by United States aerospace company SpaceX, along with a backup lithium battery to maintain consultations during frequent power cuts.
A Lifeline for Rural Patients
According to ZimSmart Villages, by 2026 the organization had established 28 telehealth centers across seven of Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces, conducting more than 28,000 virtual consultations, including roughly 25,000 diagnostic tests.
Tawanda Njerere, the organization’s cofounder and chief operations officer, told Al Jazeera that the programme was designed to establish digital health access points within existing post office infrastructure.
“Rather than requiring rural patients to travel 50 kilometers or more to urban health facilities, the programme establishes digital health access points embedded within existing post office infrastructure,” he said.
The centers charge between $2 and $10 for consultations, compared with $15 to $20 at many private clinics.
For some rural households, that price difference can determine whether they seek treatment or wait.
For Proud Chimene, a vendor from nearby Chimene village, these affordable fees made seeking treatment possible.
In July 2024, after experiencing unexplained weight loss, extreme thirst, and persistent fatigue, she visited the Nyazura center.
“The situation had deteriorated,” Chimene told Al Jazeera. “The nurse tested my blood glucose level, and it was high. After speaking to the doctor through a video call, they placed me on an intravenous drip for several hours and prescribed medicine that I take twice a day.”
She was diagnosed with diabetes.
“If it were not for this nearby telehealth center providing access to a physician at affordable fees, I likely would not have sought treatment at all,” she said.
Njerere noted that the programme focuses on detecting illnesses earlier by bringing screening services closer to communities. Digital health records and follow-up consultations also assist patients in managing chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.
The centers have also diagnosed sexually transmitted infections and referred patients requiring specialized care.
Challenges Remain
Despite its growth, telehealth cannot replace all the services provided by traditional healthcare facilities.
Specialist services, particularly for eye health, mental health, and complex chronic disease management, remain limited across Zimbabwe.
“The programme addresses this through partnerships with established eye-care providers and specialist networks; however, specialist capacity remains a systemic constraint,” Njerere said.
In some rural communities, unfamiliarity with virtual consultations means that building trust remains an ongoing challenge.
For Kadzunge, the measure of success is simple: she can return to her fields and daily routines that the illness had taken away.
“I am healthy again,” she said. “Now I can go to the farm without frightening my family.”
