Thursday, March 28, 2024

Health Minister calls for research to reduce health burden in Zambia

Share

Health Minister Dr Joseph Kasonde congratulates Jaguar Overseas Limited Local Representative Matthew Mwandandila as General Manager Rd Lokhande (second left) and Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Dr Peter Mwaba look on after the signing ceremony for construction of 650 health posts countrywide
Health Minister Dr Joseph Kasonde congratulates Jaguar Overseas
Limited Local Representative Matthew Mwandandila as General Manager Rd
Lokhande (second left) and Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Dr
Peter Mwaba look on after the signing ceremony for construction of 650
health posts countrywide

HEALTH minister Joseph Kasonde has called for more health research to reduce the disease burden in Zambia and improve the well being of patients.

Dr Kasonde said health research was critical as it contributed to the economy through the well being of the patients and communities.

He said the country was under pressure to reduce the disease burden, improve the health status of all, as well as, accelerate the attainment of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

“One of the initiative that could assist in attaining the ministry’s targets is getting involved in quality research, as it is the key to innovation and consequently growth,” ” Dr Kasonde said

Dr Kasonde said this in a speech read on his behalf by Ministry of Health Principal Pharmacist for Logistic and Management Luke Alutuli during the official opening of the second annual Pharmacy Research conference organised by Ministry of Health in collaboration with Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) held at Cresta Golf View Hotel.

He said research in area of infectious diseases such as Tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS, could translate into useful results to improve management of patients.

Dr Kasonde said it was through research that revealed some of the most cardinal aspects of HIV management such as adherence to medication and prevention of resistance or management of resistance cases.

He was happy that local pharmacists were now embracing the challenges of research.

He encouraged more pharmacists to rise to the challenges of creating breakthrough and discovering new evidence that would positively impact on the practice and improve patient outcomes.

CIDRZ executive director Charles Holmes said at the same function that though a number of key advances in healthcare and health in Zambia had been made, the country still faced many major public health challenges which required sound research evidence to find cost effective, sustainable and deliverable solutions.

Mr Holmes said one of the greatest priorities for his organisation was to build the capacity of local junior investigators for them to grow and become independent researchers.

2 COMMENTS

  1. I just researched and what I found will suprise you. Guess what? We need to improve health facilities. Also we need nice nurses and more doctors. Reach out in rural areas. It was easy to do.

  2. Health systems are simply overwhelmed, hence some unscrupulous among our health personnel taking advantage of the situation. To relieve the system of this pressure, we need to seriously monitor our environment, our food and water hygiene, not merely prouding ourselves on having regulations on paper.

Comments are closed.

Read more

Local News

Discover more from Lusaka Times-Zambia's Leading Online News Site - LusakaTimes.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading