ACCOUNT FOR INEFFICIENCY

IF there is one thing the Ministry of Health does not lack, it is the knowledge and expertise necessary to deliver an efficient and effective health service.

We have a doctor for a principal secretary, the best malaria expert in Africa as under secretary and another doctor as director of Health Services. What more could we ask for in a Ministry of Health that has a minister also drawn from the health sector?

Lest we forget, this country holds the crown for being the best on the continent in the elimination of malaria, a disease that has claimed the lives of thousands of fellow African citizens. This feat has earned His Majesty the King the Chairmanship of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA).

This country is also well respected in the roll-out of HIV and AIDS programmes that have seen impressive results in the reduction of Mother to Child Transmissions dropping from 12 per cent to three per cent in 2013. We also have an over 67 per cent anti-retroviral treatment rate which is one of the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa and government is now able to procure drugs for ART without donor funding.

In terms of allocation to Health we are in the top 50 of the world at around 10 per cent of the national budget. So with such credits to our Health CV, how do we find ourselves facing a health crisis that suggests we don’t know what we are doing?
We have a Central Medical Stores that is supposed to ensure there is adequate stock and monitor the distribution of the drugs to the country’s health centres. Warning bells are supposed to be sounded well ahead of time so that the necessary orders are made. Why is this system not functional?   

But then we have a disgruntled health personnel citing shortage of staff, inadequate uniforms and working equipment etc. As you listen to their grievances you begin to wish we had a high number of trained nurses who could be recruited as often and in the large numbers as seen marching into the security forces.
Surely the professionals sitting at the helm of the ministry know this and have a good solution for it.

Government has been telling us how it has translated the national Vision 2022 into practical and feasible targets to expedite economic growth and focus the country’s efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It has said procedures for tracking progress in the attainment of the First World status had been developed and the set indicators cover eight focal areas, namely; economic prosperity, education, health, service delivery, infrastructure, agriculture and environmental sustainability, governance and corruption.

Under health, we have been told that the prioritised strategies for the country’s health sector include promoting health through the life course, disease prevention, prompt and efficient management of medical and related conditions, rehabilitation, and influencing health actions in the main related sectors.

Strengthening health financing and investment and fast-tracking the establishment of a National Health Insurance to guarantee equity, efficiency, and effectiveness in the provision of health services was an area of specific focus for government.
Reading into all of the above one needs to underline strengthening health financing and investment. This is the aspect of health, or the lack of it, that has been cited as the cause of the current troubles we see. 

 
Principal Secretary in the Health Ministry Dr Simon Zwane told Parliament last Friday that all their troubles are a result of the lack of finance. They have a budget on paper so to speak.
This immediately speaks to the issue of national priorities. What is more important than life, becomes the question. How does a government get to put lives of its citizens at risk?

This is a matter for serious concern and warrants questioning. Somebody must be held accountable for this.
It cannot be allowed to go as just another government financial challenge because it creates a life threatening situation which, if caused by the negligence or dereliction of duty by one or more individuals, warrants action.

If the Health minister fails to hold anybody to account, then she should do the honourable thing and offer her resignation.
What the minister needs to understand is that people are not commodities or part of the furniture in the Health Ministry and she should drum this in to her Cabinet colleague at the Finance Ministry.

The House of Assembly was due to convene yesterday afternoon to deliberate on this matter. We expect nothing but decisive action that will not just restore normality to our health centres but to punish all those who were responsible for the crisis.

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