Africa-Press – Uganda. The absence of a hospital has denied Pader District the opportunity to receive medical oxygen needed for Covid-19 patients.
As a result, the district health department cannot manage critical cases, Daily Monitor has learnt.
The district chairperson, Col Fearless Obwoya, said an official from the Ministry of Health told him that medical oxygen is only being given to district hospitals, regional and national referral hospitals.
“Last week, as per the resolution of the Covid-19 taskforce, I went with six empty cylinders to refill oxygen, only to be told by officials from the Ministry of Health that oxygen is not given to a facility with status of health centre IV,” Col Obwoya told a coordination meeting last Friday.
The feedback did not go down well with members of the district taskforce. They appealed to the government to revisit its decision to allow districts without a hospital to access oxygen.
The acting district health officer, Ms Anna Apio, said their efforts to upgrade Pader Health Centre IV to a district hospital has not yielded fruit in the last 21 years.
She said the district Covid-19 taskforce was stuck with three Covid-19 patients that were in critical condition at the weekend
“The patients were referred to Gulu Regional Referral Hospital for oxygen support, but they could not be admitted due to lack of space,” she said.
Just like other districts, cases of Covid-19 pandemic are on the rise in Pader with a total of 115 positive cases being managed under home-based care.
“A total of 6,778 samples have been taken for testing since the beginning of the pandemic. Of those, 488 cases were confirmed positive while 376 cases have recovered. Four cases of deaths have been registered,” Ms Apio said.
The Resident District Commissioner, Mr Dusman Okee, who is also the chairperson of the district Covid-19 taskforce, acknowledged the problem, but said the government is committed to ensuring the district gets a hospital.
“With the help of friends and well-wishers, we are going to refill our empty cylinders with oxygen from Gulu City,” Mr Okee said.
The Pader Woman Member of Parliament, Ms Paska Aciro Menya, called for coordination among district leaders to ensure residents receive health services.
She commended the government for giving the district an ambulance to support the emergency.
The deputy Chief Administrative Officer, Mr James Okumu, said a Shs958m Covid-19 response plan has been approved.
The plan includes raising community awareness, vaccination, training medical personnel, and recruitment of staff on contract.
