Kariba Hospital a health hazard: Minister

THE Health and Child Care ministry has raised concern over the general lack of maintenance at Kariba District Hospital, describing it as a health hazard.

Speaking during a tour of the institution on Sunday, Health deputy minister John Mangwiro said the hospital lacked maintenance, hence creating fertile ground for disease outbreaks.

“We definitely need to improve in terms of maintenance of our hospital, the general cleaning or even toilets and walls themselves.

“Water and sewage is running everywhere, (and probably this had been going on for many years).

“I am not happy at all because these can actually be sources of terrible infections for the whole town,” he said.

“I, therefore, talked to the staff and encouraged them to be more organised and if funding is lacking, the Finance ministry is ready to support.

“We encourage everyone in provincial, district hospitals and clinics to really be hands on in terms of cleanliness, repairs of sewage pipes and taps.”

Mangwiro also expressed displeasure over the hospital’s pharmacy which he said had no stock cards.

“I got to the pharmaceutical area, I was shocked, the pharmacy is full of drugs, new and old, but there is no accountability, no stock, nothing at all.

“I was told that records were in a book somewhere but as a pharmacy, there must be cards showing us where these drugs are going and when they will expire and so forth.”

Mangwiro also toured Chirundu Clinic, where he was impressed by the state of affairs at the facility.

“If you go into their pharmacy, it’s like they have three pharmacists manning it.

“They know what is in each tin, when it is expiring and so on. I do not understand why pharmacists at Kariba Hospital fail to do that. There are only two of them at Chirundu Clinic, but they are doing well and the clinic is one the cleanest health facilities I have seen and we want to congratulate them. Let them keep it up,” he said as he pledged to assist Kariba Hospital revamp its Xray, pharmacy and human resources block which was gutted by fire two years ago.