Hobona accuses MoH of wastage
Sharon Mathala | Thursday March 13, 2014 17:29
Speaking in Parliament, the medic-cum-politician said poor standards and measures by the ministry are responsible for the purchase of expiring drugs.
She said that health standards in the country are not user friendly, hence a lot of health facilities have become curative rather than preventative.
She accused the government of spending money on the health system with no positive result just as it is doing with Morupule B power station.
“It is so unfortunate that a country with a high Gross Domestic Product, with a lot invested in the health system, still battles with preventative diseases such as Tuberculosis (TB) and high number of HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections,” said Hobona when debating the proposed budget for the ministry.
She said the World Health Organisation (WHO) is disappointed at the manner in which the Botswana health system is being managed.
She gave the example of the Central Medical Stores (CMS), which has failed to deliver drugs despite millions invested in upgrading its IT system.
She called on government to adopt electronic transactions and filing.
Hobona accused the ministry of taking away orthopaedics and gynaecologists from the Nyangabwe Referral Hospital.
“Government took the directive to decentralise the said subsidiaries from Nyangabwe Hospital but this in turn leaves the hospital out in the cold (sic), it no longer serves the role of the referral that it initially was,” said Hubona.
She explained that the world had adopted the Alma-Ata Model 1978, which explains that the best approach to improve health is through primary health care programmes.
She said the primary health model allows the country to solve the problems at the primary stage, which emphasises prevention rather than cure. “There is need to prevent the disease before it comes, thus the use of clinics,” she explained. Hobona accused the ministry of adopting the curative rather than the preventive system and that is why the nation is struggling to improve the natural health system.
The Minister of Health, Dr John Seakgosing said that to intensify efforts to achieve national targets and the Millennium Development Goals, they are developing a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system to promote evidence based planning and policy decisions.
“It should however be noted that the determinants of health go beyond the health sector, and hence the urge for other key sectors such as education, agriculture, transport, water and housing to extend a helping hand,” he asserted.
He said despite all the challenges that the ministry encounters, it continues to make strides in the development of human resources.
He stated that the skills and competency gap is a problem, within specialised areas. Seakgosing stated that there is need for health workers to change their attitude towards work.