Getting our health priorities right

THE acquisition of two helicopters by Zambia Flying Doctor Service (ZFDS) is highly commendable as it has immense benefits, especially to people in rural areas.
The acquisition comes after ZFDS was recapitalised to the tune of K167 million through the Ministry of Health. This move will indeed revolutionise our health delivery system.
We would like to commend Government for this huge and bold leap in healthcare provision.
It is a worthwhile investment as it will save many lives if well-utilised.
This is also a true demonstration of Government’s commitment to attaining universal health coverage, where no-one is left behind, and a step towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal Number Three, which focuses on human health and well-being.
Over the years, ZFDS has proved to be a key unit in healthcare provision, especially in as far as reaching rural populations is concerned.
The dedication that this unit has shown in saving lives is incomparable and we believe that increasing its capacity in this manner will only translate into many more lives being saved.
Many times we have covered stories about ZFDS delivering help through specialised health services that are non-short of a miracle to the beneficiaries – be it removing a 9kg tumour from a woman in Nakonde or helping mothers in Mpongwe district.
We believe that no-one should be disadvantaged merely on account of the place where they choose to live – if there are people, Government must strive to reach them with the necessary social services they need, be it education or health.
We also acknowledge the fact that we cannot develop as a nation if we do not prioritise health. As President Hakainde Hichilema has said at several fora, health is not only a social determinant but an economic commodity to enhance human development.
And so we must ensure that there are no inequalities in healthcare delivery, especially between rural and urban areas.
President Hichilema and his administration promised to strengthen institutions and systems to ensure health security for the nation and to ensure that the gap between rural and urban communities in terms of healthcare is reduced. This is the fruit of that effort.
There is also need to change how we respond to health emergencies – be it when handling road accident victims or illnesses. Many times we have lost lives simply because we could not reach them quickly enough or get them to a health facility in good time.
Many times we have also seen the mishandling of accident victims by untrained people who only worsen the situation in the quest to help.
We believe these air ambulances will be able to quickly attend to such cases.
But there is also a need to create synergy between this air service and the health facilities on the ground.
And so we echo the call by Minister of Health Elijah Muchima to build helipads at health facilities in order to accommodate this mode of transport.
We hope the Ministry of Infrastructure will act promptly on this call so there is no broken link in health delivery.
As ZFDS board chairperson Rosemary Kumwenda noted: “We need helipads in the reference hospitals where we are delivering these patients with helicopter. If we don’t have helipads, it means landing at the airport and wasting time in the busy roads to take patients from airport to hospitals.”
With this kind of investment, we can truly say that we set our health priorities right.