This week, another
story of the sad situation of Uganda’s healthcare sector happened. A
baby who was being delivered at Bulumbi Health Centre III in Busia
District died at the hands of a midwife.
Reportedly, the mother had been at the hospital for four days without being attended to by any medic, confirming the extent to which the healthcare services have slumped in government health facilities across the country.
Reportedly, the mother had been at the hospital for four days without being attended to by any medic, confirming the extent to which the healthcare services have slumped in government health facilities across the country.
On the fourth day, when the labour pains peaked, the midwife attempted to conduct the delivery.
The baby came legs first, while the head remained trapped inside the mother’s birth canal.
The baby came legs first, while the head remained trapped inside the mother’s birth canal.
The
baby died and added on the existing statistics of the 94 babies who die
every day in Uganda during birth. In November last year, another child
at Jinja National Referral Hospital lost a limb after a botched surgical
operation.
These two incidents are just a tip of the
iceberg on the hundreds of people who die at the medical practitioners
in the public healthcare sector. They point to the pathetic situation in
our public hospitals, which have now become more of death centres than
health centres where people go seeking to save their lives.
It
shows the kind of suffering majority Ugandans go through in government
hospitals, especially poor citizens who can’t afford expensive treatment
in private health facilities.
Bulumbi health centre
reportedly has only two midwives and apparently the midwife had spent a
whole week on duty alone. This points to the acute shortage of manpower
in the health sector.
The Jinja incident also suggests a similar situation. Otherwise,
why would an intern conduct a complicated C-section operation if there
were senior and experienced doctors at the hospital?
These
two incidents show how, among others, how inadequate manpower in
government hospitals, have cost the country thousands of lives in deaths
that could have been prevented under a functioning healthcare system.
Government
must rescue the country’s healthcare sector. Ugandans do not deserve to
continue dying in such regrettable situations.
It is
the reason we fought for independence to develop and manage our social
services sector better than the colonialists. Unfortunately, we are not
living up to this promise.
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