By REBECCA MUSHOTA  in Kalumbila –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has warned medical staff in the country against pilfering drugs from Government health facilities.
President Lungu said yesterday in Kalumbila District of North-Western Province that medical staff should avoid stealing drugs and selling to the public.
The President also cautioned members of the public against buying pilfered drugs.
Mr Lungu said this when he commissioned the Lumwana District Hospital which was constructed at a cost of K15 million by Government.
Mr Lungu said pilferage and vandalism by health staff should not be tolerated and the public should not encourage the vice.
“The problem in these facilities is pilferage and vandalism. The warning is to you members of the public and the nursing staff not to steal from yourselves,” he said.
President Lungu said that Government property belonged to all Zambians and should be guarded against any form of misuse.
The public should not buy stolen drugs to discourage medical staff from stealing medicine and to protect their own lives.
The President said that construction of the hospital was part of the Patriotic Front (PF) Government’s commitment to develop infrastructure countrywide.
He said the Government would ensure that it built houses for medical staff in rural areas to attract youthful nurses and doctors to these places.
The Head of State said there had been massive desertion from rural health facilities by young health workers, some who even faked marriages just to avoid living in rural areas, due to lack of proper accommodation.
The President urged medical staff in rural areas to learn the language and culture of the people in areas they operated from.
President Lungu said he would also ensure that Lumwana Hospital had the equipment and necessary human resources to stop it from turning into a ‘white elephant’.
He said it was his duty to continue taking development to North-Western Province despite the few votes he got during the last presidential election because he believed in a united Zambia.
The President was building on the country’s forefathers’ vision premised on the ‘One Zambia One Nation’ motto.
It was for that reason that despite Zambia keeping many refugees, it did not have a citizen that was a refugee in another country.
President Lungu said he would not let politics detach him from taking development countrywide.
Health Minister Joseph Kasonde said the hospital was a facility that the people of Kalumbila wanted desperately.  It is the only referral facility in the region.