LIVINGSTONE District has been hit with a shortage the BCG vaccine that is given to newly born babies for prevention against Tuberculosis (TB).
The shortage of the vaccine has not spared Livingstone General Hospital and Batoka Hospital, which are the two major hospitals in Zambia’s tourist capital.
Livingstone District Medical officer Cliff Hara confirmed that the entire district had been hit by a shortage of BCG.
Dr Hara however said the shortage of the BCG vaccines was being handled at National level.
He said the Vaccine ran out about a week ago and that he was not in a position to know when or what was being done because only people from the national office had answers for most queries.
“I can confirm that as a District we ran out of BCG about a week ago but as you are aware this is being handled at national level. So I would refer most queries to Lusaka because we also don’t know exactly what is happening,” Dr Hara said.
He also said there was no need for parents to worry about BCG as it could be administered to children even at two years old.
And in a separate interview Livingstone General Hospital head of clinical care Muzaza Nthele said the two major hospitals in the tourist capital had run out of the BCG.
Dr Nthele, however, said that the two hospitals were not responsible for primary care but that the district medical offices were the ones responsible.
“Our two Hospitals do not handle preventive primary care because that responsibility has been given to the district.
“Anything to do with vaccines such as Yellow fever or BCG and any other in Livingstone, the official position has to come from the District Medical office because we also just request for the vaccines when we need them from their office,” Dr Nthele said.
Dr Nthele said the two hospitals depended on the district medical office for logistics and supplies of all vaccines including statics.
And commenting on the on-going male circumcision campaigns, Dr Hara disclosed that the District Medical Office had so far circumcised over 950 people out of the initial target of 460.
He said the response has been very overwhelming and the Medical team would continue with the exercise which was initially intended to run for only a month.
“The response for male circumcision has been very overwhelming, we were given a target of 460 to do in a month but we ended up doing 960, so the period has elapsed but we shall continue with the exercise as people come because we will not turn them down,” Dr Hara said.
August 2013 was declared male circumcision month and the male folk were encouraged to access free services to reduce the risk of infections especially sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.
AND US$210 MILLION FOR CCTV IN LUSAKA. WHAT A FARCE!!
Please LT, change the headline, it does not make sense.
Spot on – the heading is lacking sense.
Please kick out these PF baboons! They are committing genocide! These are useless kleptomaniacs, tinpots, and incompetent hyenas! Where is the so called first lady who likes parading around fighting the so called cervical cancer? Here we have babies been put at very high risk to TB and she is resoundingly mute! What a pathetic and incompetent government!
The biggest problem is the recovery period and overall long term effects.
All these Children may not live to last and may also spread the TB to others.
Meanwhile money for bye-elections is always there. Such wastefulness and selfishness will cost PF big time. ARVs, BCG….guys, don’t play with health. You told us that with removal of subsidies, there would be more money to spend in other sectors of the economy. What bull!!! The shortage of ARVs was because of lack of funding, BCG is due to the same. You guys even go to church to try to fool God. God is fooled by no one. ‘I will govern by the ten commandments’, Michael Chilufya Sata – 23 September 2011. Maybe we gave these guys too much credit and the ten commandments referred to was the ten commandments of PF….
did Jesus Christ recieve the same BCG?
dude, you have outdone yourself at being an a-hole. Any further attempts will make no difference coz this is the highest level there is.
Find out the process of procuring he vaccines before you expose your ignorance. vaccines are not like trousers in a shop where the Ministry of health just wake up and buys Yaba!!
Had to read the title several times to get its meaning
From the time PF assumed office, the health ministry has been hit by a shortage of life-saving drugs with arguably the most critical being the shortage of Anti-retroviral drugs. These shortages place people at risk of people developing immunity to drugs as well as death. I find it astounding that no one has called for the resignation of the minister of health. In other countries, the shortage of ARV’s would be a scandal.