Michael Zulu writes
SHAME ON ZAMBIA’S HEALTH SECTOR AS LEADERS CONTINUE TO SEEK MEDICAL TREATMENT IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES
When was the last time you saw a Zambian leader being treated at UTH if not KK?
The money that is being looted just at Ministry of Health alone is more than enough to create State of the Art medical facilities which would be accessed by ALL Zambians.
All those so called ‘robust’ achievements in the health sector unfortunately come down to nothing if South Africa and India are the choices of destination for the privileged few who cannot be treated at UTH and other local hospitals.
Food for thought: They don’t really care about us.
#TheRevolutionWontBeTelevised
I agree 100%! KK and his administration did what they could in their time I. The form of UTH, Ndola and Kitwe Central, and others. All the subsequent governments had to do was continue to maintain these in the best way possible way to allow all Zambians to have access to free and decent medical facilities in the country.
We are criticizing a health system of more than 60 years old, it has been overlooked or neglected for a long time and it will take almost the same period to revamp it. However, the problem is not unique to Zambia alone, it is a problem which involves the whole African continent because of politicizing things. If you look of South Africa or India, the hospitals where people go to are not public hospitals like our UTH and others, they are private hospitals with very high standards and are free to charge economic fees which enable them to hire and pay specialized Doctors, Surgeons, Nurses etc. In South Africa we have Melpark, Morningside and others which are of very high standard compared to most of our hospitals in Africa. If they were offering free medical services as we do, it could have been impossible to maintain those high standards.
The other point to note is that when someone is sick, the priority is to get well and restore his/her life wherever the treatment can be found. As already alluded to, in Zambia we shall keep on blaming our leaders and our Health system for something which is happening in many other African countries. According to the data that I have gathered, the under listed are some of the African leaders who died outside their countries while seeking or receiving medical treatment although there are some who died shortly after coming back from abroad. Few are still alive.
1. Hastings Ngwazi Kamuzu Banda, Malawi died in South Africa.
2. Julius Mwalimu Nyerere, Tanzania died in London
3. Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe, died in Singapore or shortly after coming from there.
4. Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Angola, was receiving treatment from Spain.
5. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algeria, inFrance
6. Malam Bacai Sanha, Guinea Bissau died in France.
7. Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia, died in Belgium.
8. John Atta Mills, Ghana, died in Accra after returning from a brief medical spell in the US.
9. Musa Yar’Adua, Nigeria, died in Abuja after returning from treatment in Saudi Arabia.
10. Omar Bongo Ondimba, Gabon, died in Spain.
11. Lansana Conté, died in Conakry, was receiving treatment in Switzerland.
12. Ahmed Sekou Toure, Guinea, died in the US. Fell ill whilst in Saudi Arabia
13. Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, spent more than 100 days in the UK for medical treatment.
14. Patrice Talon, Benin, underwent surgery in France in June 2017.
15. Gnassingbe Eyadema, Togo died on board the aircraft that was evacuating him for emergency
treatment abroad.
16. Kwame Nkhuruma, Ghana, although he was in exile in Guinea died in Bucharest, Romania.
So you can see that we are not the only ones and there is no need to carry the shame for others.