Kavango Medicine shortage in Kavango regions raises concern West regional council chairperson Joseph Sivaku Sikongo has voiced concerns about the lack of medication and transportation at health facilities in the region.
Sikongo raised the concerns at a malaria update meeting on Thursday, led by the Ministry of Health and Social Services, to update the Kavango West Regional Council and its stakeholders on malaria cases and to discuss how to reduce the number of cases in the region.
“Last week there was a serious case at Mbururu Clinic. A nurse called the Nankudu district, and they said there was no transport to fetch the patient. But when I called the health director, they [provided] transport. How are we treating our own people this poorly? Why are we acting like we are in a colonial system?” asked Sikongo.
He also criticised the behaviour of some younger nurses, accusing them of allegedly mistreating patients.
“Independence means we must work hard, but our health personnel, especially the young ones, think they are special when they are in uniforms,” Sikongo stressed.
He further pointed out that the draft outreach programme for the health director is sometimes inaccurate, claiming that scheduled visits often do not occur. He accused officials of falsely claiming credit for these visits in their reports.
“For instance, an individual in charge of drawing up the outreach programme will for instance allocate Tondoro district with seven villages to attend to while you know you don’t have transport. Now other hospitals have to attend to those villages on your behalf and when they finish, they give you a report and you write that report in your system as if you were the one who attended to them. What kind of behaviour is that?” Sikongo questioned.
He concluded that these issues are causing significant frustration among residents and require immediate attention.
The Kavango West region recorded 1 487 malaria cases and six deaths last month.
The malaria update meeting was attended by constituency councillors and representatives from Development Aid from People to People and the Ministry of Health and Social Services.
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