Patients at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka are still at the mercy of expensive private laboratories for tests, following the persistent shortage of reagents, consumables and non-functional machines at the highest referral hospital in the country.
Another check by Diamond News has revealed that patients are paying as high as K4000 to conduct their tests at private laboratories.
A cancer patient, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, reveals that he has been at the hospital since August and has spent K4, 900 just to access treatment.
On Friday, Acting Minister of Health Charles Milupi informed parliament that government through local resources has released Two million kwacha for the emergency procurement of reagents to last 30 days at the University Teaching Hospital and Levy Mwanawasa Hospitals, but the situation has not improved. This is contained in a report published by Diamond TV Zambia.
By Joan Musabila