Opposition happy with inquiry

OPPOSITION MPs have praised the Public Accounts Committee for its inquiry into the Health Department and called for more reforms to improve health services.
Shadow Finance and Treasury Minister Joseph Lelang told Parliament last week that the committee was doing a “fantastic job” in getting to the bottom of the procurement, supply and distribution of medicines in the country.
“We in the Opposition, commend them for doing a wonderful job so far,” he said.
Lelang said the allocation of K30 million to the Health Department was not enough to have a profound impact on people’s health.
“Its success or failure will rely on a significant improvement to the procurement, distribution and effective delivery of drugs and medical supplies to our people,” he said.
“That is why we would like to see further reforms to our public health systems to improve the delivery of quality health care to rural communities in an affordable manner.
“Many of our rural aid posts, health centres and district hospitals need to be modernised and properly equipped.
“This has been lacking for decades, resulting in our rural population not been able to obtain proper medical diagnosis and access to the right drugs (if and when they are available) and medication for all illnesses.”