Govt in dire need of health staff – Kabanshi

Local Government and Housing, Emerine Kabanshi, says the government is in dire need of more trained health workers.

Ms Kabanshi says with the decentralization process in full gear, the demand for more health personnel is inevitable.

She said the new districts have been established in readiness for decentralization hence the need for more medical staff to man them.

The Minister was speaking at Saint Paul’s Mission Hospital in Nchelenge District of Luapula Province when she inspected the K1.2 million construction works of the nursing school.

She also said there is need to upscale training of midwives in order to better the situation in the country and ensure the safety of expecting mothers.

Ms Kabanshi observed that currently expecting mothers are often being attended to by traditional birth attendants, adding that the safety of both the baby and the mother are not guaranteed.

She commended Saint Paul’s Mission Hospital for supplementing government’s efforts in the provision of the health care services and the training of health personnel.

“What you are doing is commendable and we as government appreciate your supplementary efforts directed at enhancing health service delivery,” she said.

The Minister assured the Catholic Church-run health institution of financial support whenever the budgetary allocations are permissible.

Meanwhile, Saint Paul’s Mission Hospital acting Administrator, Grace Musonda, told Ms Kabanshi that the Catholic Church-run health facility is grappling with acute shortage of staff and inadequate funding.

Sr  Musonda said both the hospital and the nursing school were miserably staffed and that this hampers the delivery of quality health care services and training.

She also said the funding to the institution has been very poor, making it difficult to manage the welfare of patients as well as the students.