The Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Kaberamaido, Jackson Luke Jackson Abwangamoi, was surprised to hear that the hospital administration wasn't adhering to the new directives of providing hand washing facilities at the hospital.
Health Workers in Kaberamaido district have abandoned the comfort of their offices to attend to patients open spaces under the trees. The initiative comes as the country puts up different
measures to prevent the spread of Corona Virus. on Monday night, the Health Minister confirmed eight
other COVID- 19 cases, bringing to nine, the number of confirmed cases in Uganda.
Since then, a number of people including medical workers
have stepped up measures to control the possible spread of the deadly virus. In Kaberamaido Hospital, clinicians now sit under the trees
to attend to patients. The sitting posture allows in fresh air that reduces
the chances of infection especially as majority of patients present with flu,
cough or sneezing.
Sr. Margaret Anyinge, the Senior Nursing Officer at
Kaberamaido Hospital, says they opted for open spaces because of congestion in the Out Patients Department-OPD. Sr. Anyinge explains that more people are flocking the
hospital in family units of up to six patients.
She notes that management
devised the open space approach for patients to reduce the risk of infecting
staff and other patients.
// cue in “This place is...
Cue out...than cure”//
Despite this, URN has learnt that Kaberamaido Hospital has been
running without hand washing facilities even after the Presidential Directives
on Hand washing and other preventive measures. When asked, Sr. Anyinge said
there was some bureaucracy that delayed the procurement of hand washing
facilities in the hospital. “We finally got the hand washing facilities this morning and
as we speak, all units have sanitizers in addition to the hand washing points
available in the hospital”, she said on phone.
The Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Kaberamaido, Jackson Luke
Jackson Abwangamoi, was surprised to hear that the hospital administration wasn't adhering to the new directives of providing hand washing facilities at the
hospital. “The hospital should be on the lead in this fight. How can
they fail to improvise hand washing facilities for clients? We shall follow
this up with the administration”, he said.
The Kaberamaido District Health and Education Secretary, Esther Anyiko says the issue was discussed in a meeting with the
in- charge of the hospital and the District Health Officer, Daniel James Odongo
but was ignored. “We sat in a meeting and asked the responsible offices to
liaise with each other to put up preventive measures as per the Presidential
Directives. But to my dismay, not a single hand washing facility has been
availed in the hospital”, the councilor said on Monday.
Edwards George Akonopesa, the Kaberamaido Resident District Commissioner, said much as some health workers have initiated other
preventive measures, the institutional set up in the district on COVID- 19 is
slow. He explained that individual and family response against Corona Virus is
faster compared to some institutions in the district.
