Minister of health Alex Katakwe says government remains committed to ensuring that there is availability of essential drugs and medical kits in all health facilities across the country.
Dr Katakwe said government wants to see people even in rural areas have access to quality health care services.
He said this when he made an on-the-spot check of Mumena mini hospital in Kalumbila District yesterday.
Dr Katakwe said President Hakainde Hichilema’s desire was to ensure that drugs reached the rural citizens regardless of distance.
He expressed happiness with the essential drugs stock levels at Mumena rural health centre which was at 85 percent.
“I am so happy to learn that the Mumena rural health center is at 85 percent essential drugs availability this is what we want to see as government ensuring that drugs reach even the last man,” he said.
Dr Katakwe instructed the Provincial Health Director to be on the ground and ensure that health centres experiencing low drug stocks were urgently supplied.
He has encouraged citizens to visit health centres whenever they were not feeling well to access treatment assuring that drugs were available in all government health facilities.
“No one should just die home when government has provided medicines in hospitals and everything for our lives to be well, so no one should shy away from going to the hospital when government is doing everything possible to provide quality health care services,” he said.
Meanwhile Katakwe has sounded a stern warning to health workers over drugs pilferage in health facilities.
He said that Parliament had approved a bill which, once enacted into law, would make the pilferage of medicines a non-bailable offence.
“So, we are warning people who like dipping their fingers getting drugs taking to their homes and their small drug stores, that this trend should come to an end,” he said.
He has urged health workers to safeguard the medicines and ensure it benefited the intended people other than personal selfish motives and gains.
Dr Katakwe further warned health workers that have a tendency of prescribing medicines to patients that was readily available at the health centres for personal gain of stern action.
He said health workers must put service to humanity above self-interest as they discharge their duties.
“If you begin to prescribe for the drug that is already available in the pharmacy, at the clinic because you want them to go and buy from a drug store where you are connected, we shall not tolerate that,” Dr Katakwe said.
He said the government was developing measures to regulate drug prescriptions more strictly as the health system undergoes digitalisation.
“Even the health system pharmacies will have to be connected to the digital platform so that a prescribed drug must be shown on the dashboard in the system to see whether it is there or not, so if it is not in the system, it will be able to show that yes, it is not there and needs prescription,” he said
He said that once the system is digitalised, health workers who prescribe drugs indiscriminately—even when the medicines are available at their facilities, will be held accountable, as the government will not tolerate such practices.
This government? Sure? Masimpe?
They assured us the Kwacha would pick up on the afternoon of swearing in.
You are in USA but still an Idiot and dull.Take yourself to school and do basic economics.What are the basic measures that appreciates the kwacha?You don’t just wake up and it’s done.You plant the little seeds you have,nature them and harvest in abandce.There is no short cut to GDP growth