MEDICAL for Quality Healthcare in Zambia (MQHZ) director general Dr Quince Mwabu has called on Health Minister Sylvia Masebo to replace incompetent district and provincial health directors, saying it’s embarrassing that she is forced to inspect “filthy” health facilities.

In an interview, Monday, Dr Mwabu said the entire health system in Zambia had been sleeping for a long owing to lack of prompt and unannounced visitations by the supervising bodies.

“Looking at the filth in most of the hospitals and clinics across the country, should it take the whole minister to go and check and inspect the clinics and hospitals when it comes to hygiene? That is very embarrassing. So what’s the point of having district health directors in districts and what’s the point of having provincial health directors in these provinces? The district health directors and provincial health directors are not doing their work. The minister should take action to make sure that the non performing district health directors and provincial health directors [are replaced] because we want competent people who can supervise and ensure that their vicinity is clean. Hospitals are the center of all diseases and if we are having such issues in hospitals then we are not helping at all,” he said.

“We need collective efforts from both the general public and the managements in these health facilities if we want to see improvements when it comes to proper hygiene. Poor hygiene is not a government problem but that of management in health facilities. The entire health system in Zambia has been sleeping for a very long owing to the lack of prompt and unannounced visitations by the supervising bodies. The filthy health facilities, it has been like that since three years ago. The minister of health should replace incompetent district health director and provincial health director. The health sector is rotten and we need proper sanitising, both in district health offices and provincial health offices if we want to see changes we need in these health facilities.”

Dr Mwabu said there was need to quickly change “incompetent” district and provincial health directors, arguing that some of them have been there for too long and have forgotten their jobs.

“So the district health directors and provincial health directors need to up their game and ensure that they supervise the management of each and every health facility across the country. Hospitals should be the center of cleanliness to avoid infections that people can acquire while admitted to hospitals. What’s going on is very embarrassing. I think the best is to change most of the district health directors and provincial health directors who are not performing as quickly as possible because some of them have been there for a long time and have forgotten their jobs. So they just have to change. And we just have to change most of the management who are not performing in these health facilities because it’s very embarrassing,” said Dr Mwabu.