Health in Rhodesia

Bulawayo City Hospital. Image credit Tony Ward.

• Health standards for the workers were very poor
• Workers in mines could easily be injured or get killed in accidents
• Mine workers were not given adequate protective clothing resulting in many work-related injuries
• Africans also contracted diseases and suffered from malnutrition
• There no medical treatment for African workers
• Health services were racially structured as white hospitals were better staffed and equipped than black ones
• Black hospitals and clinics were understaffed, overcrowded and had limited drug supplies with rural clinics being the worst
• Whites had better living conditions and suffered less from diseases
• Maternal and infant mortality rates was very high for Africans
• Life expectancy was pegged at 49.8 for African males whilst it was 66.9 years for white males
• Africans relied mainly on hospitals built by missionaries for medical treatment

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