Knowledge Is Required

I WRITE to comment on the reshuffle of permanent secretaries by the Prime Minister in relation to health (hospital) management in our country.

As health experts, we were worried when Kahijoro Kahuure replaced Dr Kalumbi Shangula as Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Health and Social Services. We appear to have been proven correct because our worry was that Kahuure had no health background. Again, this time I am inclined to insist that the Prime Minister might have missed an opportunity by not appointing a Permanent Secretary with health/hospital systems knowledge.Experience and knowledge show that health/hospital systems are very complicated systems that require those managing them to have profound knowledge about them.I know Andrew Ndishishi is intelligent and one of the experienced permanent secretaries in the country, but I must advise him that managing health/hospitals is not just like managing any other company or institution because of their complexity. I therefore want to appeal to Ndishishi to study the basics of managing health/hospital systems if he is to succeed with his new assignment. Otherwise, the move might be a prescription for his demise.Health/hospital systems, as we had witnessed lately are a matter of death and life; you either prevent disease and death or you let death take its toll if you do not manage health/hospitals carefully and knowledgeably.I had hoped the Prime Minister would this time appoint a permanent secretary with health qualifications. But good luck to Ndishishi and the health fraternity! I hope he will be listening to health/hospital professionals in order to succeed and take my humble advice to learn the basics of health/hospital systems.Constancio Hishiyukifa MwandingiBy e-mail