PS urges investment in health security
ZAMBIA needs to invest heavily in health security due to its geographical position, Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary for Administration Kennedy Malama has said.
Dr Malama said Zambia was a landlocked country and surrounded by a number of countries thereby making it more vulnerable to health threats. He said there was need for all stakeholders to join hands and strengthen the health security in the country. The Permanent Secretary was speaking yesterday during the official opening of an orientation workshop for Parliamentarians on Public Health Security and Eminent Disease Outbreak in Lusaka yesterday. The workshop was aimed at familiarising Members of Parliament on Public Health, Security and Eminent Disease Outbreak in the country. “Zambia is faced with so many health threats such as the Corona Virus, Ebola and many others at the moment, so it is our responsibility as a country to ensure that we strengthen our health security and protect the health of our people,” Dr Malama said. He observed that if not contained, the public health emergencies when they break out, could lead to devastating effects. “For instance in West Africa when there was Ebola outbreak in 2014, the social economic activities in those countries collapsed and up to today, those countries have not recovered. This is how serious when health security is not invested in, the country remains so vulnerable,” he said. And Speaker of the Nation Assembly Patrick Matibini commended the Ministry of Health for organising the workshop. Dr Matibini noted that MPs could act as information disseminators as they represent and interact with people in their constituencies. He urged MPs to therefore use the information gained at the workshop to sensitise their constituents on issues of public health. “In a country like Zambia, where the majority of the population is rural based, public health information dissemination is important for the well being of the communities,” Dr Matibini said.