Police Service Clinics Cater for 150 Locals Daily

photo of Participants in the planning, monitoring and reporting workshop. — Participants in the planning, monitoring and reporting workshop. Courtesy of Eswatini Observer.

The Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) clinics render serves to over 150 police officers and private patients on a daily basis.

Georgetown University Country Resident Director Dr. Samson Haumba making his remarks.

The clinics provide primary preventive services, quality medical care, professional counseling services, as well as anti-retroviral therapy in a customer friendly environment with particular emphasis on cost-effectiveness, confidentiality and customer satisfaction.

Speaking on behalf of the National Commissioner of Police William Dlamini during the official opening of a three-day capacity building on planning, monitoring and reporting for the Royal Eswatini Police Service health staff, Dlamini said to ensure that this goal was met, it was incumbent that the health team be capacitated and continuously trained to ensure that the services they provide are optimal and consistent with the national strategic frameworks.

She said the police health department had also taken note of the impact the pandemic has had on tracking, planning, monitoring and reporting on HIV/TB/PMTCT cases.

“You will be pleased to know that our health staff, in spite of the challenges, have ensured that ART services continue to be a priority in our clinics.”

Senior Deputy National Commissioner Lydia Dlamini. — Senior Deputy National Commissioner Lydia Dlamini representing the national commissioner during the official opening.

Hence this training programme comes at an important time, where it is necessary to improve our skills, evaluate what needs to be strengthened and what needs to be adjusted, while ensuring that we avoid pitfalls of overlooking long term efforts,” she said.

It was against this backdrop that they hoped for a prolonged partnership and other future training programmes as we all know that knowledge is power, information is liberating and that education is the premise of progress in every society.

Dlamini said REPS received technical and financial support from Georgetown University in collaboration with PERPFAR through the Center for Disease Control (CDC). It is through this partnership that they had the privilege of hosting this ground-breaking, first of its kind capacity building programme.

“Suffice, therefore, at this juncture to express and extend our gratitude and appreciation to Georgetown University and PERPFAR for their technical and financial support towards REP health programmes over the years. Consequently, this training programme could not have materialized without support from Georgetown University, PERPFAR and the Center for Disease Control which focuses on the importance of achieving epidemic control in the country,” she added.

_{Gama B. “Police Service Clinics Cater for 150 Locals Daily”. Eswatini Observer. September 16, 2021:9.}