Government  has employed 20,000 health workers countrywide out of the 30,000 target from 2018 to date, Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya has said. Dr Chilufya said Government is on course to develop the health sector because it prioritises the health of the people by recruiting more staff in the country.

He was speaking during an open day at Levy Mwanawasa Teaching Hospital yesterday. “As we celebrate the National Health Week, we will also celebrate the 20,000 health workers that have been dotted countrywide,” Dr Chilufya said. Dr Chilufya said the creation of Levy Mwanawasa Medical University, which is the fourth public medical university, is evidence of the efforts being put in place to develop the sector.

He said Government saw the need to equip hospitals with good machinery to avoid people going abroad to seek medical treatment. Dr Chilufya said the country has conducted serious operations like the separation of conjoined twins and many other complicated cases. “Today, the University Teaching Hospitals (UTH) has doctors and good machinery and are able to successfully operate on Siamese twins, and also carry out kidney transplant, among others,” Dr Chilufya said.

“Many operations that required us to send patients abroad are now being done locally,” he said. And Levy Mwanawasa Medical University vice chancellor Elwyn Chomba said it is important to have well-trained health workers in attaining the universal health coverage.

Professor Chomba said the support rendered by Government in building the university will go a long way in supporting universal health coverage.
She said the university will work to ensure that it becomes