Africa-Press – Eswatini. Deputy Prime Minister Thuli Dladla says the unavailability of an ambulance and drug shortage at Sithobela Rural Health Center will soon be tended to by the government.
This she said during a visit to the hospital on Saturday where she received a report on the challenges faced by the health facility, putting lives in jeopardy.
Speaking with Eswatini TV, Sithobela Health Center Nursing Sister Jabu Hlanze said that a major concern is the unavailability of an ambulance that is needed the most by the facility.
“We need it to transport patients to the bigger hospitals like Hlatsi, Mbabane Government Hospital, and RFM. We fear that we might have people losing their lives because there is no transport to help them get to these hospitals for immediate assistance,” said Hlanze.
She clarified that Sithobela is a health center that can only do little for its patients, and when those who require extended assistance are to be transferred to bigger hospitals, it becomes an issue for them.
Hlanze further disclosed that another concern is the road infrastructure from the health center to the bigger hospitals in the country, which contributes to the ambulance shortage.
She said due to the dilapidated road, an available ambulance or any form of transportation used to transfer a sickly patient must be carefully driven, which in turn extends the arrival time for immediate medical treatment to be administered where necessary.
“We can leave Sithobela with a sickly person, but because the drivers must be careful not to damage that vehicle, we arrive at Hlatsi or any of the bigger hospitals and they (patient) are in an even worse situation.
This is worrisome to us, and we hope the government will tend to this matter, immediately,” Hlanze said.
DPM Dladla said this will be tended to and concerning the drug shortage which has engulfed the country’s health sector, she stated that there is a system that the government is putting in place to address the situation.
ambulance shortage
“We are working on the system and procedures to ensure that, once in place, we will know where, when, by who, and to whom were the drugs disbursed.
Once there is a system that allows for appropriate accountability, it will allow for a seamless disbursement of drugs to all health facilities countrywide,” Dladla said.
The country continues to battle the drug shortage situation as there have also been reports of expired drugs that need to be destroyed, which has caused concern to emaSwati and the government.
On June 5, 2024, one of the bodies tasked with probing the drug shortage in the country, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) embarked on a surprise visit to the Central Medical Stores (CMS) warehouse in Matsapha.
The PAC was indeed surprised as it discovered that a high volume of expired drugs dating back to 2015 continued to be housed at the facility despite being unfit for patient consumption.
The committee further discovered that drugs close to E200 million had to be destroyed, which it said was worrisome, as the Auditor General’s report for 2021/2022 had only highlighted about E81 million worth of drugs that had expired.
Amongst these drugs were those that had been purchased for the Covid-19 pandemic for a trial run worth about E9 million. However, they met their expiry date before they could be used because the doctors or medical practitioners had to get approval first.
PAC Chairman Madala Mhlanga said the police and ACC were urged not to wait for the PAC to conclude and submit its report and recommendations.
The reason is that the PAC must report to the House of Assembly its findings whilst working with the AG’s office.
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