A NON-governmental organisation (NGO) in Ndola last weekend introduced a mobile clinic to Kantolomba Ward and people with different ailments turned up in hordes for medical attention.
People’s Process on Housing and Poverty in Zambia country coordinator, Nelson Ncube said the outreach programme targetted communities on the outskirts of town with no access to health facilities, hence the decision to take the mobile clinic to Kantolomba.
People from different parts of Kantolomba flocked to the skills centre where they were examined for various ailments.
Mr Ncube said during the sessions patients were examined by medical personnel who, where necessary, prescribed medication for them.
Thomas Chuma, who was found at the centre, praised the NGO for initiating the programme that aimed to save their lives.
Another patient, Joseph Kalunga said the coming of the mobile clinic in the area for three days, from Saturday to Monday, had eased the burden of walking long distances to nearby clinics.
“This is a good thing, these people have seen our sufferings here,” Ms Mwanza said.
Kantolomba Ward Councillor, Nathaniel Mwange said mobile clinics were beneficial to areas that lack medical facilities and praised the Government for its initiative to introduce them to the Zambian people.
Mr Mwange, who is an MMD councillor, said the area had never had a health centre and that people walked more than four kilometers to Twapia and Lubuto clinics.
He was speaking during the People’s Process on Housing and Poverty in Zambia mobile clinic session in his ward at the weekend.
He praised the Government for its initiative to introduce mobile clinics which would ease the suffering of people in peri-urban and rural areas of the country.
“The idea of the mobile clinics by Government is welcome because I have seen how it will help the people,” Mr Mwange said.
People’s Process on Housing and Poverty in Zambia also uses the sessions to teach people skills on how best to save money to help them acquire essential commodities that they lacked.
“We address immediate challenges that people in communities are facing and we encourage them on how to improve their daily lives,” Mr Ncube said.
[Times of Zambia]
What do we expect from Times of Zambia…..
For those of you that attacked the mobile hospital initiative and continue to attack it , there are the numbers for you. Numbers don’t lie.
# 1 you are right. They are campaigning on behalf of RB to make people believe that Mobile clinics are of use. Its a shame to have big print media including National Television being abused by politicians. That why people of balanced democracy have privatized their National Broad Casting. These are the companies to be privatized not ZAMTEL and ZANACO.
Prepare their minds and they will see good.
I can visualise the excitiment as the Chief- #2 -typed his postings.
This why the MMD has failed in Urban areas because we cannot be fooled by such temporarily gestures. W know how expensive these motokaz have cost us and how long they will be functional. They are too expensive and only meant to fool villagers up to 2011. After that it back to usual long distance walks for poor people. Remember Kaunda used to fool the entire Country with an egg each and standing with a frog in an election. Very soon the whole Zambia will wake up and not take such shiit. We need permanent hospitals, a permanent solution to problems. we need roads not only in eastern province
LT you have just filtered out the word “foo.l” in my contribution. I do not think the word is any way an insult. Jesus used it several times
your grand parents and parents in villages will benefit unless of course yours have settled in unplanned shanties like chibolya. these clinics will be a huge success much to the disapointment of PF.
Nothing wrong with people acceesing medical facilities on these mobile clinic!
The issue is, how long was this mobile clinic there?
How long will this mobile clinic last?
All this should be analysed with permanent hospitals in mind! Unless one is a retard, permanent structures are what Zambians deserve!
Who is sponsoring this NGO???
Honestly ppl the idea might not be so bad after all Zambia can not build hospitals for everyone so best use alternative methods.
We have hospitals and clinics but some people stay far so mobile clinics are good as long as you do not give up on plan to build health facilities.
All you being negative about the development maybe you dont have relatives in the village or later on even lived there
I was in boarding school and ppl came a long way for health check ups
No one is arguing against the need for permanent clinics but as a complimentary service, mobile clinics might actually be more cost effective. Running a decent clinic can be expensive and you also have to ensure that you have the right qualified staff whom you have to pay. Also, the levels of poverty in rural areas mean that many people can not afford to pay for the transport costs even for a relatively short journey that is assuming that transport is available. Lets see how this service will pan out.
Kantolomba ku Ndola behind that hill? Cheap propaganda by MBB vuvuzela!! Most contravesho ‘development’. Why not do PERMANENT CLINIC instead of MOBILE CLINIC!! What happens to Nathaniel Mwange’s children when they suffer chorela 3 days after that mobile shhhh Tea. Cant they learn from the Zambia Police that they are doing away with Mobile Police. Ba LT try to get articles from the Post and other Non Boma papers.
Let us look at the current realities regarding as we debate mobile hospitals. Currently in Zambezi district there is only one Doctor (a congolese) seeing all pediatric, surgical, medical and gynae cases. Some patients who come to this hospital come from as far as Chinyamalitapi across the river more than 70km away. They walk for 4 to 7 days to reach hospital. During rainy season, the area is cut off up to 5 months because of the water logged plains.
During dry season, the district cannot easily do even outreach activities because they need a proper Landcruiser to to traverse the sand terrain. Besides this only landcruiser has hundreds of other chores including getting hospital materials from Solwezi more than 500kms away on the famous M8 (Mutanda Chavuma) road which is terrible. This is typical district health setting in Z.
Basic Qns!! 1. Where are you going to find Doctors to man these mobile hospitals if you cannot man existing hospitals? 2. If Landcruisers are in short supply and have disfficult doing outreach, how will your Mobile Hospital do that? 3. In these far distant places, there are rural health centers some of which are manned by no single health worker but by an untrained CDE, (who is even delivering mothers) why cant you spend this money to build accomodation for health workers and improve infrastructure to support health?
4. If in theory, this hospital will have say 2 doctors, 4 nurses, 1 lab person, 1 pharmacist, 1 records clerk, 2 cleaners, 2 chefs, 1 driver plus assistant: These are modest estimates but you have at least 15 people on board. If they are on the move for 30 days: Daily Subsistence Allowance for a GRZ employee @ K300,000/night x 15 x 30 = K135,000,000m (ONE HUNDRED AND THIRSTY FIVE MILLION KWACHA) on subsistence allowances only. This does not include salaries and other allowances such as over time/on call, fuel costs, food costs, medical/surgical supplies costs, motor vehicle spares costs etc.
Now put your bottom down and find out from any district hospital in Zambia, how much GRZ grant they receive per month currently? It ranges from K10m to K50m if they are lucky, and check what their workload currently?? This mobile hospital thing is a hoax. Right now the National Health Strategic Framework for the next 5 years (2011 – 2015) is being finalized and it does not feature this nonsense at all because people who understand public health would debate and tear this nonsense to pieces. It can only come in thr the backside. A better approach would be to get ideas and plan to have that loan based on right priorities…!!!
I feel you Jink Popo. People just cannot calculate.
You chaps look at sustainability and not short term benefits.This is pulpable corruption which becoming ominous in zambia and complete betrayal of public trust by MMD. It is blasphemy to decieve the ignorant and poor who cant analyse issues or read between the lines.How long will these mobile clinics going to last? Build the poor folks clinics and hospitals in all shanties than decieving them in this manner. Dont you feel for them? These mobile clinics are just like pain killers for short relief and not permanet cure to the health problems. We know it is a compagn strategy
This is a great initiative by an NGO NOT GRZ OR MMD. Stop trying to claim this as a success of GRZ when it was not planned or effected by GRZ. When are we going to see these long awaited GRZ mobile clinics in action. I’m not knocking the mobile clinics initiative i just want to see them in action and deliver much needed healthcare. When shall the GRZ backed ones start to operate? Where?
Ba senior citizen can you pliz came in with your wild debate…we want to read your kusabaila…..it is not about the pact here, we are debating real issues… the mobile nonses…..
DON’T WORRY MWEBANTU, RB ALIFISHITA IFINGI.VIVA RB!!!
Those who have eyes, open them and see. The Times of Zambia, Post, Daily Mail are just newspapers. You have your own brain, unless you are one of the many f.ools who have given away to mmembe your right to think.