DRUGS for non-communicable diseases like epilepsy are being hardest hit by funding shortfalls affecting Zimbabwes public health sector.
While the government is struggling to meet its budget commitments, donors are more focused on communicable diseases like HIV and TB.
Tsarai Moto (not her real name), 25, from Musami village in Mashonaland East Province has to travel to Harare, about 80km away, for her anti-epileptic medication every month because of shortages of the drug in her area.
She told IRIN that during these trips, she frequently experienced seizures as a result of having gone for days without taking her medication.
My money and valuables have been stolen during the seizures and left me stranded, she said.
Moto is one of an estimated 2 percent of people affected by epilepsy in Zimbabwe, according to the Epilepsy Support Foundation of Zimbabwe (ESFZ), an NGO that provides medical and psycho-social support services to people with the condition.
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures. These seizures can be successfully controlled with anti-epileptic drugs, but according to WHO, nine out of every 10 people with epilepsy in Africa go untreated.
ESFZ estimates that 86 percent of people with epilepsy in Zimbabwe are not receiving medication, especially those in rural areas.
Moto said people in her community viewed her as insane and that her frequent seizures had prevented her from completing primary school.
According to a study by ESFZ, the University of Zimbabwe and Bindura University, the greatest challenges for people with epilepsy in Zimbabwe are economic, with 93 percent of the people who participated in the research indicating that securing an adequate income was a problem; 78 percent had difficulties maintaining employment.