Medical equipment maintenance personnel and training in Zambia
This paper presents the findings of a needs assessment of medical equipment maintenance and management personnel in Zambia,performed by a biomedical engineer on behalf of the Zambian Ministry of Health (MoH) and Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET)’s Zambia program.Six hospitals that represented all three levels of services in both rural and urban settings were visited.The following areas were assessed: medical equipment maintenance departments; equipment planning and budgeting; equipment procurement and donations; medical equipment maintenance personnel; training for maintenance personnel; and senior equipment users’ perceptions of equipment and maintenance services.Due to limited budgets,human resources and health technology management (HTM) awareness,most equipment-related activities are reactive as opposed to proactive.There is a significant shortage of qualified maintenance personnel in post,and in-country training for biomedical engineering professionals is needed.The curriculum for a three-year diploma program in biomedical engineering technology at a Zambian technical college was created and approved,as a start to addressing the shortage of qualified medical equipment maintenance personnel.More broadly,medical equipment maintenance personnel must be recognized as vital human resources for health,both in Zambia and further afield.
health technology management needs assessment developing countries training human resources
S. Mullally T. Bbuku G. Musonda
Tropical Health and Education Trust, London, United Kingdom Clinical Care and Diagnostic Services, Ministry of Health, Lusaka, Zambia
国际会议
World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering (2012年医学物理及生物医学工程国际会议(IFMBE))
北京
英文
750-753
2012-05-26（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）