A viral video of rats running freely through a patient ward in a Zambian hospital has resulted in the country’s health minister making an unannounced visit to the facility. Dr. Chitalu Chilufya said the gross negligence at Kitwe Central Hospital was unacceptable and called for disciplinary action to be taken against hospital management. “We will not expect anything less than high quality health services in clean environments,” he said. The minister said money from the government had recently been released to the hospital “to fix some infrastructure challenges,” according to the Lusaka Times. After interacting with patients and health staff for over two hours, Dr. Chilufya established that there was gross negligence by management because the hospital had received K1.5 million for rehabilitation works at the hospital. He said in as much as the hospital was old it was unacceptable that management would allow rats in patients wards especially after receiving support from the government. Dr. Chilufya has since instructed Permanent Secretary for administration in the ministry Ms. Kakulubelwa Mulalelo to institute disciplinary action at all management levels for gross negligence.
SOURCE: LUSAKA TIMES