The district registered 59 cases in the past three weeks, including eight health workers that were all referred to Lira Regional Referral hospital for treatment raising fear among the frontline health workers.
Kwania
district health department has run out of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
to support the treatment of coronavirus patient amidst an escalation in the
number of cases in the district. The district
registered 59 cases in the past three weeks including eight health workers that
were all referred to Lira Regional Referral hospital for treatment raising fear
among the frontline health workers.
Healthcare workers rely on PPEs to protect themselves and their patients from
infection and infecting others. The district is now appealing for more PPEs to
support the fight against COVID-19. Dr. Moses Ebong, the Kwania District Health
Officer, says they lack essential supplies such as gloves, medical masks and face
shields as well as sanitisers for use by health workers handling COVID-19
patients.
“I’d like to
appeal to the government and people of Goodwill to come out and support us with
PPE and COVID-19 test kits. We have been working under risk, by doing that you
will be supporting us in the fight against the pandemic,” he said in an
interview. According to Dr. Ebong, health workers in the district are working
under tough conditions without facilitation, unlike last year when the government
disbursed Shillings 150 million for the allowances of the health workers.
Some of the nurses and midwives who talked to our reporter expressed fears that
if the challenge is not addressed with urgency, they could abandon work. Joan
Abuto, the Kwania district local government Health and Education Secretary,
says that the rate at which the pandemic is spreading is worrying. He asked the residents to adhere to the SOPs
instituted by the Health Ministry to contain the spread of the pandemic.
//Cue in: “An acalo aran …
Cue out: …kwo mere apire.”//
Kwania district vice chairman, Geoffrey Eling Owera has asked the public to
adhere to the presidential directives. Eling, who is also a health expert,
advised the residents to eat a mix of foods to boost their immunity.
//Cue in: “Presidential directive onyo …
Cue out: …onyo pot dek.”//
In June, doctors under the Uganda Medical Association asked medical workers to
lay down their tools should government fail to provide them with PPE. The
association noted with concern several cases where health workers had not been
provided with PPEs.
Solomon Okabo
Freelancer