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The Eastern Province Health Office has handed over a vehicle worth over KR300,000 to Chipata General Hospital to ease transport problems.
Regional Medical Officer, Kennedy Malama, said the Toyota Land Cruiser vehicle which was bought at a cost of KR 306, 162, 000=42 would be used for mobile and emergency services.
Dr Malama said his office had also procured two more vehicles, a Toyota Land Cruiser and a 36-seater minibus, which would be arriving in the Province in the next two weeks.
He noted that the total value of the vehicles procured was KR 1, 013, 806.84, adding that operations that hinged on transport would be improved because the vehicles would be used as utilities.
‘’When doing mobile health services, the vehicles will be used to carry medical supplies and personnel and this means improved health services by acquiring these vehicles,’’ Dr Malama observed.
He said Chipata General Hospital had been facing a critical shortage of transport, saying the last time vehicles were bought for health services in the province was in 2008.
Dr Malama said for better health delivery services in the province, a minimum which a district should have was one ambulance and a utility vehicle.
‘’ Each district is supposed to have an ambulance with equipment to resuscitate critical patients when ferrying them to referral health institutions,’’ he said.
And Dr Malama said 38,000 clients including 1, 200 operations in the province have been attended to using the mobile health units since June 2011.
He said the province plans to do two outreaches per quarter with the mobile health units, adding that so far, 1, 500 clients have been attended to and 20 operations conducted since January this year.
Dr Malama said the province had also introduced cervical cancer screening, saying some patients who had severe problems were taken to bigger health institutions for further medical treatment.
