BUJUMBURA August 13rd (ABP) – Burundi Minister of Public Health and the Fight against AIDS, Dr. Thaddée Ndikumana, held a semi-annual meeting on August 9, 2019, for provincial doctors, heads of health districts and hospital directors as well as the staff of that ministry to make an assessment on the progress of the commitments they made six months ago.
According to Minister Ndikumana, those commitments concerned four themes. Compared with performance contracts and other commitments, the Minister of Public Health indicated that 80% of the commitments made were honored.
In relation to the management of public affairs and good governance “a lot of care facilities are working properly”, he said, but inferred that they still have to make improvements.
A third theme that has been analyzed concerns the reception of patients by healthcare facilities. In that regard, Dr. Ndikumana was pleased that the reception was improved after the recommendations made by the President of the Republic. However, he said that sometimes members of the medical profession speak unbecomingly to patients, which is contrary to medical ethics.
The Minister in charge of Public Health said that he sometimes organizes trips to health care facilities to remind medical staff of the good patient reception. He expressed satisfaction with the reception measure for patients in the event of accidents.
The last theme that was the subject of the commitments concerned the quality of the data and their reporting. In that regard, exchanges have been made on the way in which that report is made. He said improvements will be made in case of shortcomings.
According to Minister Ndikumana, the meeting was an opportunity to set new goals so that in 2020, they can achieve them for the benefit of the people.
Asked about what is being done to address the shortage of medical staff, the Minister of Public Health and the Fight against AIDS replied that the government has given the green light for recruitment of 102 people who will be affected in the 32 health centers and five hospitals that were opened this year, as well as in health care facilities where there is a glaring lack of staff, as in the provinces of Cankuzo, Ruyigi, Muyinga, Makamba, Rutana, Bururi, Karusi, Ngozi and Kirundo.
On the question of the problem of having drugs for users of the card offered by the Civil Service Mutual (MFP) or the Health Insurance Card (CAM), Dr. Ndikumana revealed that this question is on the table of the government. A ministerial commission will soon be set up to study “the social case management of indigents who use the CAM and the MFP card” to improve benefits in the interest of the people, Minister Ndikumana said.
