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Photo: O País
Mozambican Health Minister Armindo Tiago on Wednesday admitted that the poor quality of the training received by health staff is one of the reasons for poor attendance to patients in the country’s health units.
Speaking in the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, during a question and answer session between the government and the deputies, Tiago said “We believe that the poor attendance to the public is the result of a gradual loss of values in our society and in the health sector. We are losing such basic values as respect, empathy and compassion”.
But he also believed the quality of health training had declined. “There has been a proliferation of educational institutions in the health area without adequate conditions to guarantee good quality training, including infrastructures, laboratories, internships and competent teaching staff”, said Tiago.
But he did not believe that bad treatment of patients was a general phenomenon in Mozambican health units. “Most professionals are not in alliance with deviant behavior. Even in a context of adversities, they continue to comply zealously with their noble mission of saving lives”.
But to eradicate misbehaviour towards patients, the Ministry is now insisting that every health worker must be properly identified, and must wear a name badge whenever on duty, thus allowing users of the health service to identify and report anyone who behaves badly.
Tiago promised that a charter on the rights and duties of patients will be widely distributed, and that channels of communication will be improved. Complaints would be made confidentially, with the identity of whistle-blowers protected.
Asked about the shortage of beds in Nampula Central Hospital, the largest health unit in the northern provinces, Tiago admitted that overcrowding is a serious problem. The hospital has 550 beds, which is considerably fewer than the 700 to 1,200 beds that the Ministry itself recommends for central hospitals.
Short term solutions, Tiago said, include moving patients to satellite health units such as the Marere General Hospital (102 beds), the Muala-Expansion Health Centre (44 beds) and the Namiepe Health Centre (also 44 beds).
In the medium term, he added, the Nampula General Hospital will be completed, providing a further 400 beds.
Looking further into the future, there are plans for a Mother-and-Child hospital with 450 beds, 300 for the pediatric section and 150 for gynecology and obstetrics. The government is negotiating possible finance for this hospital.
Russia-Ukraine
Before the opening of the question and answer session, opposition deputies made a forlorn attempt to persuade the government to change its position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Mozambique abstained on the votes in the United Nations General Assembly on the invasion and there is no sign that the government is about to change its mind.
Renamo deputy Antonio Muchanga said the Mozambican people did not understand the message the government is transmitting through its refusal to condemn the barbaric Russian behaviour in Ukraine. Lutero Simango, leader of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) said that any aggression by one country against another should be condemned. He complained that the government had acted unilaterally, instead of taking the matter to the Assembly.
But the head of the parliamentary group of the ruling Frelimo Party, Sergio Pantie, said Mozambique’s abstention at the UN “confirms that Mozambique is a country that loves peace and dialogue”.
“We are not party to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine”, he added. “We shall not drag Mozambique into problems that are nor ours”.
But, earlier in the day, Prime Minister Adriano Maleiane had made it very clear that Mozambique will be affected, if only because of the impact of the conflict on rising food prices.
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