Government to improve doctor-patient ratio

Government to improve doctor-patient ratio
By Kabanda Chulu
Fri 02 Mar. 2012, 10:59 CAT

GOVERNMENT is putting in place various measures to mitigate the current national doctor-patient ratio that stands at one doctor to 12,000 people, says deputy health minister Patrick Chikusu. And opposition MPs have condemned the manner in which government has trivialised gender issues by not establishing a full ministry.

Responding to Luanshya PF MP Steve Chungu who wanted to know the national doctor-patient ratio, Dr Chikusu said the government had no system in place to calculate the ratio but was using the population criteria.

"We have 1,072 doctors and we divide this with a population of 13 million to result in one doctor per 12,000 population but the WHO recommends one doctor per 5,000 population and to mitigate this we have in place measures such as having modern equipment, housing and car loan facilities aimed at attracting medical personnel who left the country," he said.

At this point, UPND Gwembe MP Brian Ntundu referred to Dr Chikusu as a lazy minister who could not avail correct figures but works and supply deputy minister Mwenya Musenge rose on a point of order, prompting Speaker Patrick Matibini to ask Ntundu to withdraw his remarks.

Earlier, Zambezi East MMD MP Sarah Sayifwanda asked when the gender in division department would be turned into a ministry.

Deputy minister in the office of the Vice-President Edgar Lungu responded that the government had no immediate intentions to set up a full ministry.

Lungu explained that having a full ministry would lower the status of gender since it was a cross-cutting issue that was placed at Cabinet Office to provide opportunities to all government programmes.