…because of Dr. Chitalu Chilufya who played a very significant transformative role to the various successes scored such as ensuring that the NHIS was supported by a legal framework, became law and functional.
By Dr. Mathews Chabu Kalumba.
Lusaka, Jan. 12, 2021 – Before we discuss his weaknesses, let’s discuss his strengths. For example, you may not realize that Lusaka has not had any serious cholera outbreak since 2017 despite the floods and congested drainage systems. It is for this reason that I wish to recognise and appreciate Dr. Chitalu Chilufya and his commitment to resolving Zambia’s longstanding weaknesses in its public health systems.
Dr. Chitalu was a transformative leader that has changed forever, the health sector in Zambia. He helped dramatically increase the number of doctors, physicians, mid-wives, nursing staff and laboratory assistants that government has trained and employed to respond to a critical health worker shortage in the country’s national health programs.
He helped establish new nursing schools in all provinces. He transformed the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) by splitting it into five separate hospitals to be headed by five senior medical superintendents. The five hospitals created being; the Women and New Born hospital, the Eye hospital, the Emergency hospital, Paediatrics and the Adult hospital.
The Women and New Born hospital is responsible for mothers and new-borns while the Adult hospital attends to adults’ medical needs and treatment. The Paediatrics hospital treats children while the Eye hospital is in charge of eye diseases. The Emergency hospital, on the other hand, sees to it that emergency cases are attended to as quickly as possible.
He promoted the transition of township clinics into First Level Hospitals by upgrading equipment, buildings, staffing and administrative capacity thereby reducing referral cases of patients to big hospitals.
He wrestled with Ministry of Labour and brought to the Ministry of Health the Universal Health Coverage and created and ensured that the National Health Insurance Scheme was supported by a legal framework, became law and functional.
He has helped create the Copperbelt University School of Medicine and the the School of Medicine (SoM) Branch Library located at the Ndola Central Hospital.
In 2016, the Government of Zambia began the expansion of Lusaka District Hospital into what is now the Levy Mwanawasa Teaching Hospital with 850 bed capacity. At the same time, construction started on a training annex, with student capacity of 3,000 adjacent to the hospital which has become the Levy Mwanawasa Medical University (LMMU).
Dr. Chilufya has been instrumental in establishing the Levy Mwanawasa Medical University. The University is the country’s first ever specialized University for health studies.
Dr. Chitalu also aggressively implemented the universal access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (called Wash) in hospitals and other health facilities. This was a critical step for patients and staff; and for tackling antimicrobial resistance and disease prevention.
Dr. Chilufya implemented, for the first time, a new concept towards health. He introduced policy framework for Health Security.
He created the Zambia National Public Health Institute, a national public health Institute designed to solely focus on survey, research, coordinate public health emergencies and preparedness and equip the national surveillance system with high quality data on all national notifiable epidemics and priority diseases.
It is for this reason that he collaborated with the World Health Organisation Country Office, the US Centres for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) and Africa CDC to provide financial and technical support to the Ministry of Health through the Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI) to strengthen capacity for prevention, detection, investigation and response to epidemics.
Dr. Chitalu recognised Government’s overall agenda to health and well-being and implemented programmes not seen in Zambia the last 56 years.
So while the country, grapples with the strong and recent corruption allegations against him and the Ministry of Health, and the alleged abuse of accounting and procurement processes at the Ministry, in the heat of things, there is a tendency to forget the remarkable achievements that government has scored in the health sector with the insightful help of Dr. Chitalu Chilufya.
I thought I could provide you with a balanced reflection.
Also Read: My discharge by the Magistrate Court – Dr. Chitalu Chilufya.
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