By Sinkamba Peter
RATS IN WARDS AT KITWE TEACHING HOSPITAL: A CASE OF POLICY-FAILURE NOT DOCTORS’ PROBLEM
As Green Party President, I do not think that the problem of rats in wards at Kitwe Teaching Hospital is a management issue at the hospital. And I do not think is fair and just to discipline any one of them, as directed by the Minister of Health Dr. Chilufya Chitalu. As far as I am concerned, the vector and rodent problem at the hospitals is a policy-failure issue that is purely a responsibility of the minister and not the doctors.
I am very much aware of problem of rodents at this hospital for two decades now. In fact, as the Green Party we did offer sometime in 2016 to work with a well-known rodent eradication company in Kitwe to try and sort out the rodent problem but failed to do so because of politicians from the ruling party influenced the ministry to regard our offer as campaign gimmick, when in fact we meant well for the community.
Strictly speaking, the problem of vectors and rodents at Kitwe Teaching Hospital, and elsewhere, is a actually a policy issue. You will agree with me that all sectoral policies are a responsibility of the sector minister. When there is policy-failure in a particular ministry that is not the problem of management of an institution in that ministry, but the minister.
In order to reduce vector and rodent nuisance, including transmitted diseases to a level where they cease to become a public health problem, Central Government should develop a public environmental health policy through which relevant institutions promote and research into the integrated physical, chemical and biological vector and rodent control methods.
Those rodents at Kitwe Teaching Hospital are alleged to have developed resistance against certain rodenticides. It is understood that even if food is laced with some common rat poisons, they don’t die. It is the responsibility of Central Government, not hospitals, to work in close cooperation with the research institutions and monitor and recommend interventions to address the reported rodenticide resistance.
Furthermore, it is the responsibility of Central Government to ensure that control measures employed at various levels to control rodents are environmentally friendly so as to promote and preserve lives not only of persons but flora and fauna as well. Otherwise, instead of eradicating vectors and rodents, you may cause widespread deaths of people, flora and fauna.
In addition, it is the responsibility of Central Government to periodically review and reinforce national public health laws with a view to enact legislation and provide the legal framework for the development of surveillance and control activities against vectors and rodents.
Most importantly, Central Government should provide adequate resources for vector and rodent control to local authorities as this is a local authorities key responsibility not hospital management responsibility.
As indicated above, the problem of rodents at Kite Teaching Hospital is not new. It has been there since around1998. Kitwe residents on the bed-side of their relatives in Mkushi and other wards, have always complained of the infestation of rats at the hospital and have on several occasions called for measures to eradicate the rodents which have been extremely disturbing to both the patients and those on the bed side. Sometimes, families have reported cases whereby rodents have feasted on dead bodies. However, successive governments have failed to address the problem. This is purely policy failure by successive governments.
Now we have a situation where the rats have colonized the basement of the hospital and are an eye sore to patients. They are seen moving freely in the wards. Successive ministers of health, including Dr. Chilufya himself, have known this problem. It is neither new nor is it a secret. It has been reported several times in the print media. The only difference now is that the report was visually aided through the viral video recording. Otherwise, this is a problem that is well known by Dr. Chilufya. As far as we are concerned, he was merely playing to the gallery when he issued threats to discipline senior management.
On the reported threats to hospital management, our advice to Dr. Chilufya is that leaders privileged to exercise power should not use their positions to as a scapegoat for own failures or failures of policies.
When you are privileged as a leader to wield power, apply that power judiciously and justly. Do not unduly jeopardize the professional standing of juniors under your charge for political expedience.
Dr. Chilufya must put himself in the shoes of those fellow professionals at Kitwe Teaching Hospital. He should take a leaf from President Lungu who did not take action against him when corruption charges were leveled him. Rather the President let the due process take its course.
But instead of emulating the spirit of President Lungu, Dr. chilufya publicly tried and found Kitwe Teaching Hospital management guilty without any hearing at all. This approach is repugnant and must be curtailed forthwith. He should have let the due process take its course whereby hospital management should have been given a hearing on the rodents.
Most importantly, the right thing Dr. Chitalu should do is to critically address the problem from a policy point of view. First of all, there is need for him to develop an environmental health policy that addresses, among other issues vectors and rodents in public and private institutions.
Secondly, he should ensure that as the Minister of Finance prepares the public health sector budget for 2021, he should set aside adequate resources for local authorities for vector and rodent control. In the last two decades, the only budget set aside for local government in terms of environmental health is for malaria control. Nothing is set aside for rodent control. This is genesis of the problem at Kitwe Teaching Hospital and elsewhere in the country.
Let our doctors focus on treating patients. And we should let the local government through the Councils to focus of mosquito, rodent and rabies control. Overburdening our doctors with these responsibilities does not make any sense at all especially in this country where the patient-doctor ration is 10,000 to 1.
I hope President Lungu will not allow Dr. Chilufya to terrorize and frustrate hard working doctors at Kitwe Teaching Hospital who are merely victims of policy-failure. We lost a lot of doctors at Kitwe Teaching Hospital, and elsewhere in the country between 1998-2000 due to policy-failure frustrations. We shudder to see a repeat of the same mistake. It takes a lot of resources and dedication to produce a doctor. We should not frustrate them on account of policy-failure. It is not their job to formulate policy and allocate financial resources for policy implementation.
