Zimbabwe's ailing health sector is a double-edged sword for the border town of Livingstone, in Zambia.
The demand for medicine is surging as patients and travellers from Zimbabwe buy medicine that is much cheaper across the border.
But Livingstone now has shortages of some medicines such as insulin as it struggles to cope with high demand.
Bina Baboo, the director of HK Pharmacies in the border town, said "all nearby pharmacies in the town had run out of diabetes medication" by Wednesday.
She said the pharmacy had as many as 50 customers a day from Zimbabwe. They had high blood pressure, infections and diabetes.
"Most of them are from Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Chipinge and Hwange, but they have a problem when they get to the Victoria Falls border post," she said.
"Officials at the border post charge them [for medication]. We don't see why because if the country doesn't have medication, rather than people dying they must be allowed to come and get it from here without paying duty."
Cephas Mushava said he had travelled from Harare to buy insulin for his mother. He had been to all the pharmacies in Livingstone and its surrounds, but there was nothing available.
"I will have to proceed to Lusaka, but it is unfair that the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority charges us duty upon entry into the country, and we cannot hide insulin because it is kept in cooler boxes," he said.
A pharmacist at Health Rise pharmacy in Livingstone, Mike Mwemba, said that before selling medicine to Zimbabwean customers, they first checked the prescriptions and the customers' identity documents.
He said most of their customers suffered from chronic illnesses.
"Simple medication like Panado, which is two kwacha here, cost $1 in Zimbabwe. Imagine the cost of prescribed pills. About 70% of Zimbabwean customers come with a prescription and they hide the medication either on their bodies or in bags. It is quite sad," he said.
Patients and travellers said Zambia had increasingly become a destination for buying medication.
"I came to remove a tooth because at the main hospital in Victoria Falls there has been no dentist for almost a year now and at a private hospital the cost is about $85," said Ratidzai Sibanda.
"Here I paid $14 including consultation, checkup, extraction and several pills to ease the pain."
Thandi Sibindi travelled from Lupane in the Matabeleland province to get medication for her daughter, who was diagnosed with a blood shortage in 2016.
"I was then referred to Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo where I was told that there were no medication and blood for her. They [hospital staff] are the ones who referred me to Zambia and here she gets her medication for free, including blood transfusions, so I am now here to collect her medicines," she said.
The chair of the Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers Association, Emmanuel Mujuru, said the high cost of medicine in Zimbabwean pharmacies was due to foreign-exchange shortages.
He said the prices were driven by traders and suppliers, and the production side.
"The cost of foreign currency also affects pricing, and the cost of local input like electricity and labour is much higher in the formal packaging.
"Competition is another ultimate factor where obviously, when there are shortages, you will find that within the trading system it is a question of supply and demand, and that regulates prices as well."
Local pharmacists said the shipment of raw materials was costlier than in other African countries. This resulted in the charges for medicines being up to three times the normal price.
The health sector was thrown into further turmoil on Tuesday this week when senior doctors went on strike at Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare, the country's largest state hospital. The doctors said hospitals had turned into death zones.
Owing to the shortage of medicines and surgical sundries, the senior doctors said patients were dying from treatable diseases.
Zimbabwe's health delivery system has been in dire straits for years. In December, doctors went on a six-week strike that lasted into 2019. They were protesting over poor working conditions and low salaries...