RUYIGI January 20th (ABP) – The Minister of Public Health and the Fight against AIDS, Dr Sylvie Nzeyimana paid a visit to the province of Ruyigi, in the afternoon of Monday January 17, 2023. That visit is part of the trips made by members of the Burundian government with the aim of inquiring about the real situation prevailing in their respective sectors, collecting the wishes and grievances of the people, with a view to improving the performance and the service that they offer to the people of Burundi.
The Governor of Ruyigi, Mrs. Emerencienne Tabu, indicated in her welcoming address that the main challenges and concerns that were identified during the visits to the communes, are mainly the lack of medical personnel and vehicles, staff bonuses which are slow to reach those concerned, certain contracting personnel who are not affiliated with any social security system as well as insects which look like lice which threaten the health of the people in Gisuru and Kinyinya communes.
In her speech, Minister Nzeyimana warned the people present that they had come, not to give miracle solutions to all the problems in the field of health in the province of Ruyigi, but rather to collect opinions, proposals, contributions and even suggestions from personnel working in that sector, and from the people.
She noted that the problems of lack of personnel and sufficient equipment are general for all the provinces of Burundi and that the responses to be provided will follow the order of priorities of the neediest and most urgent, until that everyone is served.
On the question of contracting nursing staff who sometimes lament that they are not considered in the same way as those governed by the bylaw of State civil servants, the Minister in charge of health reassured and made it known that the two categories serve the Burundian State on an equal footing and are all at the service of the nation. She told them that to change category, they would just have to apply during the recruitments organized by the ministry. Given their seniority, nothing would prevent them from passing the recruitment test, according to Minister Nzeyimana.
A remark that has caught the great attention of the public is that related to the newly appeared insects in the communes of that natural region of Kumoso, and particularly the Gisuru and Kinyinya communes. Those insects look like lice during the day, but start flying at night and invade households even when the houses are closed. They thus begin to sting or bite the inhabitants of that region. The most disturbing thing is that those insects are multiplying at an alarming rate, while no insecticide manages to drive them away. Faced with this problem, the Minister promised a very rapid intervention to put those insects out of harm’s way.