University of Zambia (UNZA) Vice Chancellor Stephen Simukanga has observed that a good health system in any nation was a major indicator of development.
Professor Simukanga said for Zambia as a country, has been facing a lot of challenges in improving the delivery of health services.
He said this at the 39th graduation ceremony and induction of about 219 students, who graduated in different fields in the UNZA School of Medicine in Lusaka today.
Professor Simukanga said another major contributing factor to the poor health care delivery was inadequate human resource in the health sector.
He said the Zambian health care system has also been characterized by lack of trained health personnel, particularly medical Doctors.
He said the ratio of physicians was currently 0.09 per 1, 000 people, which he said was substantially, lower than other countries such as South Africa and Egypt where the ratio is 0.31 and 0.92 respectively.
The Vice Chancellor also urged the graduates to be prepared to meet challenges and obstacles that they might not have imagined in their careers.
He said reactions to the different challenges and obstacles would determine what sort of medical practitioners they would become.
Professor Simukanga told the graduates that patience, endurance, dedication and a great measure of perseverance was all they needed for them to succeed in their professions.
He said society expected the graduates to take an immense responsibility of being medical practitioners with all the passion and enthusiasm.
Professor Simukanga has however bemoaned the lack of educational infrastructure and poor maintenance of the UNZA Great East Road Campus.
He said the highest learning institution in the country has been affected by inadequate funding, noting that this has posed as a great challenge on the operations of the university.
He was however quick to point out that even with these challenges, UNZA has continued to make progress in a number of areas.
“There has been number of notable progresses in the development of infrastructure at the institution following a long period of virtual stagnation,’’ he said.
He also said UNZA understands that Information and Communication Technology (ICTs) play an important role.
Professor Simukanga said there was need to generate more knowledge that would contribute to the fight against poverty as most people were still wallowing in poverty in the country.
ZANIS/AJN/KSH/ENDS.
congratulations people of zambia, way to go
Hope we look after these Doctors well, otherwise we have educated them for other countries
Congratulations medical oficers,hope u wont end up opening up illegal pharmacies due to unemployment like the Chunga (DVD/CD manufacturer) don.All the same congrats patali mwafuma…..Thanks be to God
Welcome to the club gallant young men and women. Things are now a bit better that the early 90’s when we became young Doctors.
LT learn to be more informative , a break down of 219 would give a true picture and reflection of what is on the ground e.g Specialist doctors , General Medical doctors, Pharmacists, Bio-medical scientists, Physiotherapists, Environmental Health Officers, Post Basic Nursing (BSc,MSc) MPH. 219 as general figure is highly misleading.
I agree with #5. Lazy reporting once again by LT. As well as reproducing the VC’s speech, a breakdown of who has graduated as outlined above should be included in the report. Otherwise it’s meaningless.
ba doctor hope you will help with the flu we get from fi centa fya mu mine.
Congratulations people,Dr.Don Kasaoma,hip hip urah!urah!urah!
Congratulations.
What are the conditions of service like for these professionals. Some years ago I visited some doctor friends at highland flats in Lusaka. It was sad to see a doctor living in a one-roomed flat. No wonder she is in teh UK now.
I also remember a friend of mine visiting his cousin nurse in UTH compound. Similar sad story. She and her husband and kid were in a one roomed flat.
Have things changed now for our dear medical personnel?
wow thats alot of medical personel.More doctors for the UK, Australia etc #5 and #6 how much subscription do you pay LT to be complaining. people who get free things never appreciate.LT start charging the docs want to pay!
The conditions of service have not improved to any desirable state for the Health/Medical personnel. This could precisely explain why the health sector has been criticized by Many Zambians for poor performance. They are expected to do wonders and perform miracles assuming there are angels or spirits that do not need to feed, not entitled to good accommodation ,for they leave in the air,no good transport for they simply fly…. High land is basically for interns for these are still in training before getting full registration .After their medical training i.e BSc (HB) MB,ChB they need additional 1and half years….
LT you are not the only one with substandard service, after all from top leadership, to investors ,contractors etc is all substandard, quality has never been our yearning in Zambia
If you don’t like LT then stop using it. Get your news from the post instead, WHO CHARGES $10 FOR ONE MONTH SUBSCRIPTION!!!Bwalya is right, I think LT is fantastic for a service that’s totally free.
Facts are facts and comments are free,sorry if you are hurt, only I believe in the truth anyhow$120/year is nothing
Guess there is more to it than meets the eye……..stranger than fiction
These stats are really misleading. I notice that we just want to take stats from an international perspective and apply them mu Zambia without a critical look at what we are saying. My simpple mathematics is telling me that Zambia is doing fine if we go by the stats prof simukanag is referring to. If South Africa with a population of 40million has that ration of 0.31 in 1000 and Zambia’s 0.09 percentage in 1000, I can conclude that Zambia is doing fine because our population is just about 10million.
Congrats to all the Graduands on their graduation. On “He said the ratio of physicians was currently 0.09 per 1, 000 people, which he said was substantially, lower than other countries such as South Africa and Egypt where the ratio is 0.31 and 0.92 respectively”, what is being done to change this problem? To me, this entails that we need more universities and colleges to bridge the divide and lessen the amount of work each physician can handle so that they do their job with all focus to be successfuk instead of being stressed.
Following “Professor Simukanga has however bemoaned the lack of educational infrastructure and poor maintenance of the UNZA Great East Road Campus. He said the highest learning institution in the country has been affected by inadequate funding, noting that this has posed as a great challenge on the operations of the university.“, what is being done to change the situation for we have been aware of this data for a long time now.
On “He also said UNZA understands that Information and Communication Technology (ICTs) play an important role“, please use ICT to make UNZA visible to the whole world. We are tired of being rated badly in the university rankings both in Africa and on the world level. Yes, with determination we as Zambians can do it and better for that matter.
For a free service lusaka times is doing a very good job and you guys who are complaining know that.Keep up the great work L.T.
”The Vice Chancellor also urged the graduates to be prepared to meet challenges and obstacles that they might not have imagined in their careers.” what does this mean??
i dont understand this,is it 219 doctors or wat
21, buckshot, greetings. On your “i dont understand this,is it 219 doctors or wat“, since this story is about UNZA Ridgeway Campus, this means that the graduates are: pharmacists, Medical Doctors, Bio-medical people and Physiology ones. Since about 2004, UNZA Medical School has increased its graduands field spans to the level mentioned about. There might be more I have left. I might have overstepped too in detail, but this is a good lead for you.
#15, LT do not have any journalists. From what I understand, they just get a news feed from other sources. Unfortunately, they are too reliant on Zambia News Agency and the likes. That is why the articles are substandard. They reflect Zambia Daily Mail and Times of Zambia standard of journalism, which as we know leaves much to be desired. LT could do with widening their sources of news.