Dear friends on the WNnet, I am a rare contributor but trust, I'm a regular
reader. Today i want to share with you my sense of degeneration of conditions
of infrastructure in WN - following what we read about Arua hospital. This is
one among many lamentable situations.
It saddens to follow some of the stories we find about WN, the Best Nile as it
is/was called sometimes. In front of these alarming situations, of failing
infrastructures... which are very lamentable, there should be questions that we
need to raise in order to uplift our spirit for a better future. It looks to me
our generation has degenerated so much that we do not have much to offer for
the future generation. Look at the school situations, roads, electricity,
water.... the list goes on. Anything that is hope-filled? The environment too
is rapidly degrading... this should raise gut questions. Or, what can I say of
this persisting degradation....?
My sense of it is that we have low expectation. Road, schools, hospitals,
farms, etc. have collapsed at the watch of everyone. Repair not done or badly
done - nothing seem to matter! We are indifferent to many things. When
expectations are low, it is easy to spiritualize or give way to patchy
solutions. This makes it easy also for the authority to manipulate and cheat
us....
Second, it seems we do not have a shared language to discuss our ideals, much
less the tools to arrive at. This is reflected by the ease with which we are
distracted by the petty and trivial, or better the chronic avoidance of tough
decision and inability to build consensus to tackle big problems as a people.
Today, governments work under pressure. If you can't build to create pressure,
change becomes slow - even the urgent ones. This is lacking on our side. We
need to express clearly what we want, what our ideals are and work towards them!
I may sound idealistic but i can't see any break through...
Fr. Raphael Wokorach
Mccj Scholasticate
P.O. BOX 24155
KAREN-nAIROBI 00502
KENYA
TEL: +254 711 859 551 or
+254 734 262 853
Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:08:43 -0500
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: [WestNileNet] arua hospital is in coma
Sahring this article from Daily Monitor
Hospital Lacks Space
As New Ward Stays Idle
Felix Warom Okello and Tabu Butagira
17 December 2011
Patients in Arua Hospital's male ward are
reportedly huddling in between and under beds, choking for fresh air.
To find a bed, patients are forced into a
tough bargain with medical personnel. But, even then, they have to share the
bed, with one patient lying legs facing the other's head.
These are patients suffering from different illnesses, some
communicable. The hospital officials say they would prefer to keep the patients
on separate beds but they have no option because the plight of patients in the
male ward is no different from that of the crowded pediatric ward, part of
which has been carved to accommodate the female ward.
Patients
receiving medication through Intravenous Fluids (IV) sit still on the floor,
holding their medication because they have no where to strap it. "The
situation is pathetic," Dr Bernard Odu, the hospital director, said.
Arua
Hospital was established by the colonialists in 1939 before being expanded to a
372-bed capacity facility by the post-independence governments, elevating it to
the level of a regional referral hospital.
The
original ward facility was condemned by engineers several years ago as
inhabitable, but the new storied structure that was later built as a
replacement has created controversy instead of relief.
Plans
to construct a shallow pool for sewage treatment did not kick off and to date,
the hospital manages its effluents on-site using soak pits, which often fill
up, forcing waste down River Osu, which is the main water source for Bibia
slum.
This
notwithstanding, three residents of Anyafiyo suburb, who were unhappy the foul
smell from the lagoon would suffocate them and also cause loss to their
business, went to court and secured an injunction to stop its construction.
This
has in turn stalled the opening of the new Shs3 billion ward, fitted with
state-of-the-art equipment.
It
has also emerged that the National Environment Management Authority cleared the
lagoon project a week ago but resumption of its construction cannot be effected
because hearing of the case, already adjourned several times, has been pushed
to February next year.
This
means the storied structure which was completed in June last year will spend a
few more months unutilised, wasting away, while in-patients continue to suffer.
This
condition has left able patients seeking treatment at the few private health
facilities in the town, but the poor find themselves in double jeopardy in the
crowded wards.
"I
cannot have my child share a bed with another person because he may contract a
disease," Ms Grace Angutoko said.
Multiplied infections
A
senior doctor, who asked not to be named because he is not authorised to speak
on behalf of the hospital, said tuberculosis cases have increased due to
cross-infection in the packed wards.
"There
are so many patients and you don't know whom to help first. Even passing
through them is a problem," the doctor said.
The Ministry of Health through Parliament, allocates
finances based on bed capacity of the health facilities and its catchment
population. The country does not budget for non-citizens, who, according to
hospital officials, constitute about 20 per cent of patients from DR Congo and
South Sudan.
Mr
Odu asked MPs to contrive other benchmarks for resource allocation to health
units otherwise Arua will remain disadvantaged and overwhelmed. This
compromises quality of health care delivery and safety of health workers,
experts say.
This
newspaper has been told that the Japanese government that offered to erect new
Out-Patients', Casualty and Maternity wards complete with lagoon system has
asked hospital administrators to quickly resolve the current impasse or they
relocate the proposed project to another needy region
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[email protected]
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WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
All Archives can be found at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including
attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way.
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