Govt. commended for incorporating Prison Service in health reforms

Govt. commended for incorporating Prison Service in health reforms

Kabwe, May 29, 2013, ZANIS —- Commissioner of Prisons Percy Chato has commended government for incorporating the Zambia Prisons data generated health facilities into national data collection system to ensure improve health delivery among the prisons
community.

 

And  Central Police Commissioner Standwell Lungu  has commended the MoH for extending the training invitation to police health officers to be part of the training.

 

Mr Chato said the attainment of MDG, on health is dependent on how accurate the country provides health services and captures every piece of data from every level, and all far lying health posts in the country.

ZANIS reports that the Commissioner said this when he opened a five day orientation workshop of Zambia Prisons Service Health Facilities on the Health Management Information Systems, HMIS, and data collection tools in Kabwe today.

He said the training was timely as it came at a time when Zambia Prisons Service was in the process of positioning itself to be providing quality professional health services.

The Commissioner  added that health provision was one of Major Service pre-occupation in the Prisons Amendment Act of 2004.

He further said that the running of health facilities by prisons officers who have taken up medical profession, as opposed to the seconded personnel has scored significantly in the health area
resulting in the reduction of outbreaks of diarrheal diseases and other communicable sicknesses in prisons.

Mr chato said that the trend has also reduced on deaths resulting from HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and other related diseases.

Through the Prisons Amendment Act of 2004, health provision was one of the major pre-occupation of the Prisons Service.

The vision ensures a healthy and productive Zambia prison service through the provision of an effective and efficient health services to prisoners, officers, and the defined prison communities
among them, he said.

He explained that the catchment areas of the prisons health facilities went far beyond offering health services to the 17,000 prisoners and 3,000 officers because to a significant degree it covers the surrounding communities as well.

He said that it was unfortunate that despite such huge coverage through prisons facilities, the information from prisons clinics and health has to a large extent not been captured in the MoH national planning data base.

 

He further said this situation has  made the Prison facilities to face serious operational challenges such as inadequate supply of drug.

 

 He said another yardstick in measuring the effectiveness of Zambia Prisons Service health services in prisoners’ behavior transformation was the productiveness of the discharged prisoners.

 

“I wish to say that society can only appreciate the productiveness of ex-prisoner if the prisons service discharges healthy ex-prisoners”, Mr Chato said.

At the same function Central Police Commissioner Standwell Lungu commended the MoH for extending the training invitation to police health officers to be part of the training.

 

He added that the police service had a number of officers who have not been trained in HMIS.

Mr Lungu assured the participants that his office will ensure monitoring them after the course in order to measure their performance so that effective results are produced in the process of data
compiling in the service.

 And Acting Provincial Medical Officer Abel Kabalo thanked the participants from different parts of the country for attending the important training on HMIS which will enable them measure the results on the past performance and to show the direction forward.

Dr Kabalo said management of data if done diligently would help in setting up new strategies and to make decisions.

 

He added  that he was happy that there was that kind of service component of health care providers within the prisons and police services.

The workshop which commenced last Monday will run until Friday, 31stMay 2013 and is being attended by over 35 Health Prisons and Police
officers from across the country.