Hello friends,

Today, I thought I could digress a little by pushing forward the conclusion of the story ‘Losing Mother’ so that I can address some of the feedback which we have received. Firstly, I would like to thank each and every one of you who have either emailed or called me to encourage me as well as share your stories with me. In the past few weeks since publishing my story, I have met so many amazing people and I am excited about what we shall do together in this journey of growth and health activism.

For very good reasons, on the other hand, some readers have expressed concern about my well-being. They don’t even know how to react to my story, they wonder whether they must worry about me or pay attention to the content. I get it. It’s less than two months since I lost Mother and I am taking on something so tasking, am I out of my mind? I am sure some of you are asking. But I am here to assure you that the decision to share my family’s story was made after I crawled out of the pits of grief. Once I had come to a realisation that Mother’s life was actually one worth celebrating, however, I realised that I could neither ignore nor forget the reality that our public health care system is, as my husband would say, shagrabagra. It’s a mess.

On April 14, which happens to be my birthday, Human Rights Commissioner Laura Miti tweeted:

“Last night we went to. Levy Mwanawasa Hospital with my niece, who was in quite some pain. 4hrs later, not a single person had been called from the queue. My niece was feeling better by then and we left. Anapolela pa queue mwana‍♀️ (the child got healed while we were in the queue). Our medical facilities, ni nkani ya kaya (it’s a story of I don’t know).”

We thank God that the young girl got healed while on that queue. But for others, the story is different. Some people die while waiting to be attended to in public hospitals. Places where we’re supposed to go for healing and comfort have now become places where ailments are made even worse by the depression which they induce. And when loved ones die in such a manner, families are left broken; people might resort to terrible coping mechanisms such as alcohol and drug abuse – and we all know how that story ends, it’s a vicious cycle.

You would hope that maybe the story is different for terminally ill patients needing urgent care, but actually, the story is no different in most cases. I choose to discuss cancer because it is one ailment where the majority of the citizenry have no choice but to go to a public healthcare facility. The University Teaching Hospital manages some cancer patients who are in the early stages, when surgery is an option, while all other cases are handled by the Cancer Diseases Hospital. And when I say all, I mean the whole freaking country is serviced by this one facility. If I happen to go for cervical cancer screening today and I am found with a tumour which is still in the cervix and can be surgically removed at UTH, how soon can that surgery be done? In this situation, the queue does not only last for a few hours, it lasts for months! For example, after months of waiting for biopsy results, UTH confirmed that Mother had endometrial cancer in October 2022 and determined that it was stage II. This means that at that point, it was possible to remove it by performing a hysterectomy (removal of uterus and other reproductive organs), but guess what? The queue was all the way until March 9, 2023. That is when she was booked to have the operation but what happened between October 2022 and February 2023 is a story which I have been telling over the past few weeks – an account of a patient’s day to day struggle in a public healthcare facility. A tale of having hope and losing hope. Today, if a patient needs any operation, I’m pretty sure they’re being booked for September or October. As if the cancer takes a seat while sipping on some tropical drink to wait for attention. Patients are dying while on queues.

Coincidentally, I know another lady who has an umbilical hernia which also needs surgery. She was booked for surgery in early 2022 at a government facility in Lusaka. However, every time that date arrives, the surgery is adjourned to a later date. On her last visit, she and four others were even prepped for surgery, cannulas installed and gowns worn, only to be told, last minute, that they had to return in about a month because the surgeon was unavailable. For this lady, getting transport fare isn’t an easy feat. Now imagine others who have to travel from far flung areas once they’re referred to UTH or CDH? And if they do make it, they find months-long queues?

The new dawn administration has bragging rights for employing about 12,000 health care workers, and we do commend them. But the question is, is the status quo on the ground singing from the same hymn book? What is the patient to doctor ratio currently? How many specialist doctors do we have and how many do we actually need? And before we even get an official response, my guesstimate is that there is a gap as wider than the Community House perimeter wall. So then, what is the plan to remedy this? And for those few senior doctors that we do have, what is their attitude towards work?

On several occasions, Minister of Health Sylvia Masebo has lamented that some senior doctors only go to government hospitals to log in and then head to private practice.

“I have also taken note for example even some of our senior doctors are doing private practice somewhere, they just go in the clinic or in the hospital and log in and they are gone to private hospital. That’s what is there, and if I don’t tell you, I pretend then we are not helping each other. And even the public knows what’s going on with our doctors today. They are happy to be in the private than in the public hospital. They steal public time and they give it to the private. Sometimes, even tools are used in the private. So it’s not surprising even when we hear about drugs beings sold, drugs going missing, that’s what it is,” said Masebo when she officiated at the Zambia Medical Association (ZMA) Annual Scientific and General Assembly in Livingstone on August 8, 2022.

I am hoping to get an opportunity to interview the honourable Minister. I know her heart is in the right place so I just wish to ask her some of these questions. I would like to know whether our medical practitioners are well compensated? I would like to know when government plans to procure some medical equipment? I want to know when our hospitals will finally get all the necessary drugs? And on cancer, I would like to know how best the ministry can enhance awareness programmes and how we can all help as individuals. So many questions. I would also like to know what safeguards have been put in place to avoid any more scandals at MoH?

And speaking of scandals, if you hold or have ever held public office and you have syphoned money from public coffers, please hold your chest and say “I am a murderer”. I have nothing else to say to you, because it hurts! Knowing that some of the people who fly out to India for premium medical attention while our loved ones die in excruciating pain because we have to queue for everything hurts beyond measure. So, once again friends, it is the state of our public health care system which I am mourning. We deserve better. Our children deserve better, and we are capable of having better and much more. Zambia is a rich country with highly intelligent humans. We just need to rid ourselves of greed. Those luxury vehicles thieves aspire to have mean nothing! Just be a decent human, be good and consider your neighbour’s wellbeing in all your choices.

When it comes to Mother, I am celebrating her life and I will continue to share stories about her because her legacy will live on. What a privilege it was to be born from her. What a woman!

Anyway, until next week friends. For now, let’s make good choices regarding our health. If you’re overweight like I currently am, join me on a journey of shading off some kilos in an attempt to prevent some lifestyle diseases. You don’t need to start big, just take a walk for starters, I promise you’ll enjoy it. And if you want to hear stories of how I got here and everything I have tried to lose weight and more, stick around!

#bekind #grabyourbestieandgoforcheckups