Africa-Press – Uganda. The Permanent Secretary of the Health Ministry, Dr Diana Atwine has announced a ban on hotel-based workshops for capacity building of health workers.
“We don’t want to hear this thing of capacity building in hotels. If you want to do capacity building here, be in a hospital. Come here and go to the (patient) wards,” Ms Atwine said during the launch of 10 days of activism against preeclampsia (high blood pressure that starts during pregnancy) at Kawempe Hospital on Monday.
According to her, such workshops are a waste of time and resources.
“If you want to talk about acute care or how to manage, don’t go to the hotel because that’s not where the patients are, they are here. Workshops must stop. We must optimize resources for the people who need them. I know that hotel people also want to earn money. But let them earn money through tourism and other things, not us. Let that money buy gloves, Vito scope, or antiseptics for the ward because those are the things we want to see,” she argued.
Commenting on the matter, Ms Anne Juuko, who was representing the Corporate Society for Safe Motherhood at the launch, said she supports efficient use of resources.
“We want to thank you (Ministry of Health) for being good custodians of what we give you. if you walk in the wards you will see equipment that was donated five to six years ago still being used, still being looked after,” she said.
“And we also want to support you in this efficient use of resources. We are proud to work with the Ministry of Health as the corporate society for safe motherhood because whatever little we give them they use and they do so very well,” she added.
According to ministry officials and experts, preeclampsia is the leading cause of maternal deaths in major health facilities partly because many pregnant mothers detect it late and or link it to witchcraft. Some experts say deaths have been high because some health workers also lacked guidance and training to handle the related complications.
Doctors advised mothers to always go for antenatal checkups and visit the doctor if they experience suggestive signs and symptoms like headache, swelling of legs, and body pain. Dr Atwine said men should improve the support they give to their women during pregnancy to reduce such deaths.
The country still loses up to 189 out of 100,000 mothers who deliver, according to government figures.
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