Tue, 18 Apr 2017 06:04:44 +0000
By OSCAR MALIPENGA
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu yesterday wound up his four days working visit in Northern Province by commissioning a K3.5 million phase one of the Kasama Midwifery Training School.
And Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya said the commissioning of the first ever Midwifery Nursing School in Northern Province was demonstration of President Lungu’s commitment to providing quality health services in Zambia.
Speaking when he commissioned the school, President Lungu said the economic growth and emancipation of Zambia rested squarely on having a healthy and productive population that would spur his government’s ambitious drive to be a better income nation by 2030.
“This school, which will cater for midwifery training of 50 students per year, in addition to upgrading of 160 in-service staff per training session, buys into our vision that human resources for health provides the key to health service delivery.
“In turn, enhanced health service delivery spanning the continuum care from health promotion, disease prevention and control, treatment and rehabilitation, form the solid foundation in which we shall ensure the wellness of our people,” he said.
President Lungu said Northern Province would be able to benefit from the critical skills in advanced maternal, new-born and childhood care which would now be imparted from Kasama.
He said his government was balancing its investment in expanding health human capital training output to increased recruitment of health workers as evidenced by a total of 2, 071 and 7, 400 health workers recruited in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
President Lungu said success in providing highly skilled human resource such as health workers was being prudently balanced with investments in infrastructure such as hospitals in Mpulungu, Mungwi, Chilubi Island and Chilubi mainland hospital with a future construction of 69 health posts in Northern Province alone. “My government shall further ensure that Mbala School of Registered Nursing is opened in July this year,” he said.
The Head of State said the school in Kasama had been realised at a great cost of K3.5 million in the first phase and through the partnership of government, the World Bank and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI).
President Lungu implored students and residents to jealously and optimally use it for the intended purpose.
He, however, explained to the students and residents that other key infrastructure such as the laboratory and library would be completed in the next phase.
Meanwhile, Dr. Chilufya who is Mansa central PF Member of Parliament said his ministry would soon start the construction of other three nursing schools in Northern Province.
He also added that in Lusaka he was currently constructing another bigger nursing school which would be enrolling over 3, 000 students once completed.
And giving a vote of thanks, a student named Mwape Mulenga thanked the Patriotic Front (PF) government for commissioning the school.
Mr. Mulenga said the students were looking forward to the completion and opening of the phase two.
