11 Apr 2016

About 300 health workers from various districts gathered at Majestic 5 for their annual leadership forum.

They were briefed on the leadership summit outcome held last year to identify major challenges within the health sector.

Speaking at a dinner organised for the leadership, the Minister of Health, Ms Dorcas Makgato said as they were all aware, her ministry was faced with a high rise in non-communicable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

She added that they were driven by the lack of public ownership on taking health seriously as demonstrated by the low uptake of screening services, health programmes, poor health seeking behaviour and poor health outcomes.

Ms Makgato also said the outbreak of diseases such as Ebola, declining donor funds and increasing customer complaints and compromised quality services in some facilities due to human capital challenges, shortage of resources such as medical equipment, transport, drugs and supplies and dilapidated health facilities were a challenge.

She said during the leadership health summit last year to address all the challenges it was agreed to redefine the road map with four key focus of organisational transformation, a paradigm shift from curative to preventive, sustainable quality health care services and economic diversification drive in which an implementation plan was developed and was currently implemented.

Minister Makgato said a lot has to be done to achieve all that the road map has planned for, adding that she was positive that they were a great team and could together achieve the road map. She said progress on the accreditation of some health facilities as well as laboratories was one of the evidence that they could achieve.  

She called upon the health leadership and managers to reflect back on their current performance, taking into consideration where they were last year, how much they have achieved, what they did not do right and to come up with a bold action to improve the status quo. She added that a lot still needs to be done to achieve the transformation they aspire.

Welcoming guests to the dinner, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health, Ms Shanaz Halabi said it was sometimes good to meet in a relaxed mood as health workers with a common purpose of  sharing ideas and mapping the way forward.

She said they should understand that the nations health was their responsibility, and that it was why they were expected to come up with strategies of how best they could improve their ministry and map its way forward by networking as health teams. ENDS