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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
GOVERNMENT will soon appoint provincial medical directors (PMDs) for Bulawayo and Harare metropolitan provinces to improve coordination on health-related matters, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Health and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo said this last Friday during a Matabeleland region coronavirus preparedness assessment meeting with health experts from the region at a Bulawayo hotel.
The two provinces are the only ones in the country without resident PMDs. Matabeleland North PMD superintends over Bulawayo.
“We need a provincial medical director for Bulawayo. It’s really to bolster and make sure that we have got concerted effort in making sure that the city as a metropolitan province is well covered. That is the same thing that has been requested by Harare Metropolitan province so that we can have better coordination within the metropolitan provinces,” said Dr Moyo.
Dr Moyo said Bulawayo Provincial Affairs Minister Cde Judith Ncube has on several occasions demanded to know when the Health Ministry will fill up some vacant posts in the province.
He said the Ministry was also going to take advantage of the Government’s coronavirus preparedness measures to lobby for the employment of more health workers.
“At the same time, we want to take advantage of this situation and also request for more posts for environmental health officers, we need them and laboratory scientists. We need more laboratory scientists so that we would be able to take care of the whole testing mechanism so that we do get results coming out rapidly and they are well monitored and accurate,” he said.
“This time we are going to work on it. The Permanent Secretary (Dr Agnes Mahomva) is here and on the issue of the provincial medical director we are also going to be working on that one.” — @nqotshili
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