MORE than 30,000 patients from different parts of Zambia have received treatment in the first quarter of 2012 through the mobile hospitals which have been going round in all the provinces.
Health Permanent Secretary, Peter Mwaba said in an interview that health workers in the moving clinics had also conducted about 2,000 operations involving various ailments.
The mobile hospitals were procurement under the MMD administration and some people feared the Patriotic Front Government would discard them.
However, the Government has embraced the hospitals, that have been allocated to each of the provinces, with remarkable impact on the community being felt.
“They (mobile hospitals) are moving and they have made a significant impact on the people. Since January this year, more than 30,000 people have been attended to with about 2,000 operations.
“As we are talking today, the Copperbelt one should be in Lufwanyama. There is no fear of running expensive mobile hospitals because Medicare is generally expensive.”
He said the composition of the facilities, which included CD4 count machine, X-ray and dental unit, made it possible for health personnel on mobile hospitals to attend to as many patients as possible.
Resident Doctors Association of Zambia (RDAZ) president Whyson Munga has hailed the Government decision to embrace the mobile hospitals as they are important in health service delivery in rural areas.
Dr Munga said mobile hospitals consisted of health experts who were rare to find in many district hospitals.
“While it is easy to put a hospital in a district, it is not easy to bring a doctor in that particular district and the mobile hospitals have been able to bring such experts, who may be lacking at many referral hospitals,” he said.
Dr Munga said the mobile hospitals were one of the cost-effective ways of providing health services.
[Times of Zambia]
use them nicely and wisely and let them not be a campaign tool since they were launched by the MMD during election time, they were condemned and so must not be used as a PF developement
They are basically a political football! They are here, so it would be silly to not to use them – use them to bridge the gap.
WHAT HAS NOT BEEN DIVULGED IS A COST – EFFECTIVENESS COMPARISION between them, & UPGRADED FIXED FACILITIES which are frequented by specialists!! Bottomline is Fixed facilities have a longer lifespan than a few fancy trucks.
Mobile hospitals make sense for our rural poor especially that they have no access to clinics nearby. Zambia is vast. It just makes sense.
Health can not be measured in monetary terms. Hence the issue of cost effectiveness is merely academic! The improved quality of health of that poor citizen out there in the remote part of the country, who would otherwise not have had access to the specialized treatment is priceless! Like the PS rightly says, medicare is generally expensive. Mobile hospitals take this care to the remote parts. Long live Mobile Hospitals!
If it fits, wear it.Let us use what we have and leave the politics alone. Its time to work for the betterment of everyone.
a mobile hospital is vital. it is practically impossible to have hospitals everywhere, but a mobile hospital can move to many areas. never compare a mobile hospital to a clinic. those with clinics may still need the services of the mobile hospitals
Build permanent structures. Inject me this week then next week you are somewhere else leaving me to fend for self. Mobile fine as a temporary measure but not a permanent solution.
Can somebody remind me, who is that one who said they were a waste of money?
Don’t be silly. The other government bought them already, so what should we do? Throw them away? They’re already here so we might as well use them even though it would not have ben our preference in the first place. Drink some water.
Its hard to believe this! Very very hard to even understand that the Pf had condemned these mobile clinics during campaign and today statistics are telling us a different story!! Can you believe PF?GOD BLESS ZAMBIA.
I think the idea is good. one of the most difficult aspect of planning for rural communities is that the people are spacely populated with the exception of Luapula province which has some sort of linear settlements and parts of eastern between petauke and Chipata which has some sort of cluster settlements this makes it easy to put up public infrastructure. however this is not the case with most rural provinces. in this case a good justification for mobile hospital. what is most important is to come up with a cost effective operational plan for their usage
Hah!!! What a lie…these machines have been parked for the last 6 months. Two faced liar!
Father Bwalya condemned these contraptions with so much vigour. When he was heading Radio Ichengelo, he was talking about how a hospital could be in one place and then the next day it was gone, how would they operate. Well, these things are here now and working, why is he not condemning their use now? RB was insulted left right and centre about these MHs, but today they have been ”embraced”. You can use all the excuses of since they are here why not used them, fine, but the concept of reaching the rural poor to whom reaching UTH is a pipe-dream was a target for these MHs. Give the man (RB) a pat on the back for thinking of poor Zambians. If pf come up with original ideas for helping Zambians, they should be commended. That is what leadership is all about.
Finally the Kaponya Govt has come back to earth and have started using the mobile clinics which they branded as a waste of money. They have realized that the 90 day dream is indeed a pipe dream in which they can do any meaningful development. We will give them another 4 years since the first year has been used to follow MMD’s development plan and attend to teething problems( Ref: Kabimba’s own words).
why were you condemning RB and his govt..?
These are temporal measures, a vehicle has shorter life span compared to a building. People, please let us start to think in terms of long run not short run when we talk about infrastructure investment. Once a vehicle develops problems, what are you going to do with the equipment inside? The equipment has been modified to fit in vehicle and cannot be removed to be installed in clinic. If the equipment were installed at the clinic it could serve more people everyday.
The Doctor should tell the truth, what type of operations is he talking about? Removing boils? I doubt if the vehicle is hygienic enough to carry a serious surgical operation without the risk to the patient. That’s why many Zambians die from infections after so called ‘operations’ been carried out in unhygienic places, we should not compromise the health of the patients for allowances and statistics.
Doctors agree to go on such tours because the government pays them five times more than when they are in their normal duties at the hospital, and someone is busy giving half truth about the effectiveness of such wasteful ventures….! blind blogger…go to school.
mobile hospitals r popular in usa as well. Just admit Sata had u spooked 4 a vote. 2de the mhs were in Chinsali and the villagers r very happy commending the new gvt!!