Ernest Mutale
Mbala General Hospital, Zambia
Ernest Mutale, MD, Public Health Specialist
Medical Superintendent, Mbala General Hospital, Zambia
mutalechama@yahoo.co.uk
To begin with, I am a Medical Superintendent at a General Hospital that is located in one of the rural provinces of Zambia-Northern Province. I got motived to apply for this course in Sexual and Reproductive Health Research 2016, because morbidity and mortality rates at my hospital have been on the increase. Some of the reasons are a lack of equipment, lack of transport, personnel, infrastructure and the long distance to service of care. However, all these being in place, I am faced with yet another problem-the lack of essential knowledge in sexual and reproductive health. I have realized that the doctors at my hospital, I included, do not possess the modern knowledge in sexual and reproductive health as we left school sometime back and have not had a chance to formally go for further training in this subject area. It was in this vein that when I came across this online course, I saw an opportunity to learn and at the same time attend to my patients.
It is my every hope and trust that once I get the knowledge in this subject area, I will pass it on to my friends at the hospital that may not have the same privilege to undertake the course like me. In the end, our patients will be well attended to and preventable diseases and deaths will be reduced. In addition, I hope to include the topic once completed in the Trainer of Trainers program in which I go round the districts mentoring others on best clinical evidence based practice. In this way, the whole province will soon be practicing better sexual and reproductive health practices for the benefit of the women and children.
Lastly, our country Zambia has been experiencing a lot of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and defilement cases of late. It is my belief that once the knowledge is acquired from this course, I will set up a center of excellence at my hospital in the area of sexual and reproductive health so that all the nearby health centres will be coming for mentorship so that they too will help to reduce on the wrong vices in their own health facilities.
Links
- Mbala General Hospital
- Safe Motherhood Action Group, Tanzuka Rural Health Centre, Zambia - Ernest Mutale - GFMER picture of the week