Zambia - Quality health delivery system still top

Citation

(2009), "Zambia - Quality health delivery system still top", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 22 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2009.06222eab.011

Zambia - Quality health delivery system still top

Article Type: News and views From: International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Volume 22, Issue 5

Keywords: Quality, Health Services, Medical care, Zambia

The Zambian Government has reiterated its commitment to improving quality health delivery services despite the country being hit by the effects of the economic recession.

Health Minister, Kapembwa Simbao said the Government would continue to increase its investment in health infrastructure to serve people in immediate need.

Mr Simbao said this in Lusaka during the 2009 commemoration of the World Health Day whose theme is “Save lives, make hospitals safe for emergencies”.

The theme focused on the need to prevent and mitigate any effects of emergencies and provide chance to reflect and re-dedicate efforts to dealing with the selected themes.

Mr Simbao said disasters such as droughts, floods, disease outbreaks and road traffic accidents had caused loss of lives and facilities, stressing that preventive measures needed to be put in place.

“Disasters in recent years have been one of the greatest challenges in Zambia. Disease outbreaks have increased the disease burden, thereby making it more difficult for our health system to cope.

“This calls for the need to work towards preventing such occurrences and mechanisms to minimise the effects of disasters when they occur”, Mr Simbao said.

The challenges posed by disasters, he said, had been made harder by the current economic recession the world was experiencing.

Mr Simbao said the Government would utilise its limited resources to develop the health sector such as training of medical staff to keep health facilities operational in emergencies.

“A recent example is that of the recent cholera outbreak in our SADC region. The available data shows that such disasters have in the past caused more than 60,000 deaths worldwide”, Mr Simbao said.

With support from cooperating partners, he said, the Government was doing everything possible to ensure health facilities were accessible and functional at maximum capacity immediately after a disaster.

Speaking earlier, World Health Organisation (WHO) Africa regional director, Luis Gomes Sambo urged the Government to revise building policies for health facilities and physical planning of towns and cities.

In a speech read for him by WHO country representative Olusegun Babaniyi, Dr Sambo said health ministries should involve experts to build health facilities in right places and in physical forms that would enable them to withstand emergencies.

“Health facilities should develop emergency preparedness and response plans and conduct mass casualty drills every year to test and refine the plans”, Dr Sambo said.

These measures, he said, would help increase chances of providing good quality medical care in disaster situations.

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