BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) has implemented strategies to provide integrated primary healthcare services as it moves to improve the quality of healthcare in the city.
Speaking at a media briefing at the Tower Block Building on Friday, BCC Health Visitor Rosslyn Maphosa said the services sought to reduce fragmentation and avoid situations where patients would visit different places to receive healthcare service.
“We want our patients to get everything at one stop. We want healthcare that is universally accessible and reachable in terms of cost,” Maphosa said.
She added that some of the strategies the local authority was implementing included home visits and outreach programmes, among others.
“We are reaching places such as Killarney Squatter Camp, Ingozi Mine and Robert Sinyoka just after Pumula. We are reaching those places where healthcare is hard to reach due to distance,” Maphosa said.
In terms of the achievements of the programme, Maphosa said there was an increase in the Expanded Programme on Immunisation to 87% from 81%.
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She said all council’s heath programmes were aligned to the Health and Child Care ministry guidelines.
Council has three health districts, which are, Emakhandeni District, Nkulumane District and the Northern Suburbs District with Emakhandeni having the largest population.
Initially, health services mostly focused on immunisation but there is now the expanded programme on immunisation which is inclusive of other health aspects.