Health Minister Dr. Chitalu Chilufya described people criticizing the government’s lack of transparency on how Covid-19 humanitarian aid is being distributed, as “political hypochondriacs.”
The term hypochondriac means an irrational fear or obsession of having a serious but undiagnosed medical condition. Dr. Chilufya paralleled the symptoms of a hypochondriac patient to the series of questions his ministry has been receiving on how donations like face masks, hand sanitizers, and large sums of money, are being used to help Zambia in its fight against the coronavirus. The minister described the questions as fears of imaginary theft being advanced by political opportunists. “Those constantly imagining that the health workers are pilfering the said materials were possibly trying to project their own lifestyle onto the hard-working and focused men and women of integrity who form the frontline and multisectoral teams,” Health Minister Dr. Chitalu Chilufya said.
Dr. Chilufya also rebuked calls from people suggesting the Ministry of Health should televise its distribution to prevent cases of theft and corruption from taking place.
Dr. Chilufya described the government’s handling of donation distribution efforts as transparent, despite constantly refusing to release any figures of where the materials are going and on how many personal protective equipment supplies health care workers have and still need.
By: Niza Nondo
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