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Paidamoyo Chipunza Senior Health Reporter
THE Health Services Board (HSB) is seeking Treasury’s permission to employ nearly 1 000 health personnel to effectively contain the ongoing and intermittent cholera and typhoid outbreaks and prevent similar challenges in the future amid indications that the requisite human resources in the Ministry of Health and Child Care is at 50 percent.

HSB acting chairperson Professor Auxilia Chideme-Munodawafa said the posts cover environmental health officers, environmental health technicians, medical laboratory scientists, medical laboratory technicians and health promotion officers.

Prof Chideme-Munodawafa said there was also need for the creation of additional posts over and above the nurse establishment.

“The filling of the above posts will ensure the availability of core capacities, which are critical for the response to the cholera outbreak and protection of Zimbabweans including health workers,” said Prof Chideme-Munodawafa.

She said should concurrence be granted, recruitment will immediately commence based on existing numbers on the database of unemployed but qualified cadres.

In a letter addressed to HSB executive director Ms Ruth Kaseke, dated September 13, 2018, Health and Child Care Secretary Dr Gerald Gwinji said the cholera outbreak could be evidence that proper health education, supervision of water and sanitation projects, inspection of food outlets and water quality were not being done properly.

He said one of the major challenges in combating and preventing these outbreaks was shortage of the requisite human resources.

“The country staffing levels are at 50 percent not because of skills shortage but because of the current freeze on recruitment. Currently there are 737 vacant environmental health technicians out of a total establishment of 1 469 posts and 50 environmental health officers out of an establishment of 122. This means that 737 wards are likely to be affected by cholera as there are no environmental services being rendered to the community,” wrote Dr Gwinji.

Dr Gwinji said there are 155 vacant posts out of an establishment of 357 posts. “It is cost effective to prevent outbreaks than cure diseases. Therefore, there is urgent need to strengthen the prevention services by engaging environmental and laboratory staff,” he said.