Dr Bwakura: A humane, patient-centred physician
Dr Bwakura was instrumental in the establishment of the Clinic at Harare Central Hospital where he was the consultant in charge of the clinic offering care. The clinic, now sees close to 20 000 visits for integrated care to clients per year, making it one
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HEN we heard about the death of our veteran and distinguished Zimbabwean specialist physician Dr Tapiwanashe Rameck Bwakura last Sunday, we were so devastated.
As colleagues it was not easy to come to terms with his death.
Zimbabwe and indeed our hospital, Sally Mugabe Central Hospital, has lost an exceptional doctor who was so dedicated to his work, helped train others to become like him and embraced patient- centred values.
Dr Bwakura was the Head of Division Internal Medicine and Consultant Specialist Physician at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital.
I have found it befitting to pay tribute to Dr Bwakura’s career and legacy and more importantly his strong endorsement for the value of the patient-centred healthcare delivery system.
His life and background is quite telling. Dr Bwakura was born on July 5, 1960 in Buhera.
He started his primary schooling at Mombeyarara Primary in 1966, subsequently finishing off primary education at Hartzell Primary School in 1972.
He enrolled at Hartzell Secondary School for his secondary education, completing A Level in 1978 at the height of the war of liberation of Zimbabwe.
He went to Germany through Botswana where he was accepted into medical school for his undergraduate medical education graduating in May 1986, followed by internship that he completed in 1987.
Dr Bwakura returned home to Zimbabwe in 1988 and was employed as a senior house officer in August of the same year in the Department of Medicine earmarked to cover the Renal Unit at Parirenyatwa Hospital.
In 1990, he was accepted into the post- graduate programme in Internal Medicine at the University of Zimbabwe Medical school, graduating with a Masters in Medicine (MMed (Medicine) degree in 1993.
He joined the division of Medicine at Harare Central Hospital ( now Sally Mugabe Central Hospital) as a Senior Registrar in 1994, a position he held for two years until he was promoted to Consultant Specialist Physician in 1996.
Dr Bwakura subsequently became the Head of Division Internal Medicine at Harare Central hospital succeeding the late Dr Mubwandarikwa, a long-time chief Government physician and head of medicine under whom he worked when he joined as an SHO in 1988.
In 2018, he acted briefly as clinical director, leading all the clinical directorate activities for the hospital before the substantive was appointed.
Dr Bwakura was instrumental in the establishment of the OI Clinic at Harare Central Hospital where he was the consultant in charge of the clinic offering HIV care.
The clinic, now sees close to 20 000 visits for integrated HIV care to clients per year, making it one of the largest in Zimbabwe.
He was an integral part of the National team that provided technical advice and direction in the initial roll out of HIV/AIDS care in Zimbabwe.
That technical group was involved in drawing up treatment guidelines for HIV and TB treatment in the country. This seminal work saw him being appointed to the board of SAfAIDS.
Dr Bwakura was very active in professional representation bodies in Zimbabwe that advanced the interest of the doctor as a professional.
That saw him taking an active role in the Zimbabwe Medical Association assuming the office of secretary general from 2006 to 2012.
He was also in the ZIMA scientific committee that was responsible for putting together CPD content for the annual conferences.
Dr Bwakura continued to be in the ZIMA malpractice fund committee, chairing it up to 2022. He was also a committee member of the Senior Hospital Doctors Association.
Some of the work that was closest to his heart, as shown by the amount of effort, was that associated with the National Physicians Association of Zimbabwe (NAPAZ), the professional body of specialist physicians in Zimbabwe.
He had various roles in the executive committee of NaPAZ over the years, eventually being elected to become the President of the Association from 2018 to 2021.
Dr Bwakura was a founding fellow of the East Central and Southern Africa College of Physicians (ECSACoP).
He served in the inaugural council of the college in which he chaired the accreditation committee that was responsible for certification of training sites for the college.
This saw him travelling throughout the region with fellow committee members from Uganda and Tanzania and oversaw the registration of training sites in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda and Kenya. He was due to step down from the council this year.
In addition to his role in the council, Dr Bwakura was a senior clinical supervisor/ trainer for ECSACoP trainees based at Harare Central Hospital.
The ECSACoP training programme is a harmonized regional training program me for internal medicine specialist doctors.
Dr Bwakura’s other teaching roles were as part- time lecturer and examiner in the Department of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe.
He sat on the UZ Department of Medicine Board representing the Harare Central Hospital teaching site.
Two of his other prominent board appointments were to the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) in 2005 and the National Pharmaceutical Company of Zimbabwe ( Natpharm) in 2016.
At the MCAZ he was chairman of the Pharmacovigilance and Clinical Trials Committee, where he latter continued as an external technical member after retiring from the authority’s board.
In 2016 he was appointed to Dr George Washaya-chaired Natpharm board where he was chairman of the human resources committee. He served on that board up to 2018.
Dr Bwakura was a renowned clinician and academic who was committed to improving the care of patients in Zimbabwe.
He continued to offer training to healthcare trainees and clinical care to some of the most underprivileged members of society who patronised Sally Mugabe Central Hospital by virtue of its catchment area.
His empathy for patients earned him great respect from his peers and students alike, serving as a mentor who taught by doing rather than ordering.
He volunteered to be on many committees at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital, one critical one being the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) committee that contributed to setting up Covid-19 guidelines at the hospital in early 2020 when the pandemic arrived at our shores. This also saw him contributing to the National Treatment Guidelines for COVID- 19.
On the social front, he had a great commitment to the development of his home area as evidenced by the role he played in the Buhera Development Forum and his contribution to his church, Reformed Church in Zimbabwe.
He was a keen tennis and squash player who played in a league for the sport.
Dr Bwakura passed away at a hospital in South Africa where he was receiving treatment.
His commitment to duty and sacrifice will serve as an example to many, a great physician indeed.
He is survived by his wife Ethel and three sons, Mudiwa, Tapiwanashe Farirai and Anesu.
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