The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube Sunday News Reporter
GOVERNMENT will soon launch a mandatory audit of anti-retroviral treatment (ART) stock in all council-run clinics to ensure ready supplies and to create more ARV initiation sites. Minister of Health and Child Care Dr David Parirenyatwa said the audit was part of the ministry’s mandate of ensuring that the country had enough ARV stocks. He said it was his ministry’s hope that in the long run, council clinics play a major role in the country’s health delivery sector.
“This is a routine exercise where we will be wanting to know our ART stock in the country to ensure that people who are on ART are not suddenly disadvantaged when these drugs run out; knowing that this treatment is taken by the individuals for life from when they are commenced on it.
“We really note and appreciate the input that is being made by these council clinics but we feel there is need for more to be done in terms of improving their capacity of even initiating patients into this treatment,” said Dr Parirenyatwa.
The Minister said it was disadvantageous that not all health centres could initiate patients into ART saying it was the Government’s goal that they train more individuals in ART initiation and further improve the availability of CD4 count machines.
“By ensuring that we increase the number of ART initiation centres we obviously go on to improve the accessibility and availability of this treatment to our citizens, this is more of empowering our citizens.
“This further is a reaction to the growing number of calls from various interested groups to increase the availability of ART, it is our wish that we have even more centres in the rural areas which is why we are also working with rural district council clinics,” said the Minister.
The latest development comes after just a couple of months since the Government ordered all councils to provide 24-hour outpatient services manned by a medical officer at their clinics in a bid to increase the scope of health care centres and offer comprehensive health care package particularly at primary care levels.
The order was made during a meeting between officials from Ministry of Health and Child Care and directors of health services from the cities of Bulawayo, Harare, Gweru, Masvingo, Mutare and Chitungwiza.
Harare City Council has already implemented the order.
The idea as presented by the Ministry of Health and Child Care is that they would second doctors to local authorities for rotation as is done at district hospitals with an emergency service (casualty) being availed.
“This would be the first port of call for emergencies like road traffic accidents where minor procedures like Plaster of Paris application, suturing would be done, major accident cases would be referred directly to the hospital.
“In an effort to reduce maternal mortality, emergency obstetric services, for example a theatre to conduct caesarean section and other like procedures, would be availed,” read part of the government order.
