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Mukudzei Chingwere in VICTORIA FALLS

Standards of living of health workers will continually improve through the provision of non-monetary benefits, Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Constantino Chiwenga said yesterday at the two-day interface to improve the health sector.

His mission at the Ministry was to stabilise the health sector and restore dignity of health workers through provision of competitive remuneration, decent accommodation, proper tools of trade and general livelihoods, to overcome the challenges of pay and equipment.

In his address, he thanked health workers for an effective and thorough response to the Covid-19 that has won the praise of the international community and the World Health Organisation.

“The Government and country at large fully appreciate the work and efforts you are doing as health workers, be it in the Ministry, our parastatals or those in our councils.

“I therefore urge you all to continue with the dedication and resilience in providing services during these trying as we move forward,” said VP Chiwenga.

“The vision of the Ministry is to have the highest possible level of healthcare and quality of life for all citizens and permanent residents of Zimbabwe by 2030. The goal is to improve the quality of life of our citizens.

“This will be achieved through hard work, dedication to duty, honesty, professionalism, transparency, upholding good corporate governance and ethics as well as zero tolerance to corruption,” said VP Chiwenga.

He was very aware of the challenges affecting the health delivery system, chief among which is poor working conditions including lack of tools of trade.

“As I mentioned earlier, my mission is to stabilise the health sector and restore dignity including the dignity of health workers. My thrust therefore, is to ensure that health workers are competitively remunerated, have adequate tools of trade, decent accommodation and reliable transport.”

Vice President Chiwenga talked of his massive understanding of employee motivation and said in the military if you go to war with an unhappy force then expect to come back with numerous casualties.

“Motivation of staff is crucial in human resources management especially in the healthcare sector, as we are dealing with human life from both the point of view of the service provider and the client.

“The need to look at the totality of the needs of healthcare workers cannot be over emphasised in order to realise maximum throughput. Let me hasten to say that Government is pre-occupied with the need to improve the conditions of service of healthcare workers in terms of providing adequate and appropriate tools of trade to improve the working environment.

“It is therefore not only what the health care worker takes home at the end of the month that matters, but also the general welfare and working conditions as a total package,” said VP Chiwenga.

VP Chiwenga challenged the Health Service Board as the employer to ensure general welfare and working are improved.

The Ministry has made proposals to Cabinet which are receiving serious considerations, including reviewing upwards vehicle loan schemes for both junior and senior staff and pressing ahead with housing at all levels, provision of institutional accommodation, transportation of workers, establishment of canteens as well as rehabilitation centres.

“I will be discussing with the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development, the issue of agricultural land for health sector staff.

“The Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, together with the provincial development coordinators will be engaged to consider availing stands for building houses for health care workers,” said VP Chiwenga.