Negligence of Uganda medical workers causing thousands of deaths, government needs to improve on their motivation.

Like all young ladies who are giving birth for their first time, in the month of June, 2012, Nancy Kabanyoro shifted from her place of work in Masindi district to the comfort of her mother in Kabarole District to give birth. She wasn’t aware that the journey was the beginning of her end.

She finally managed to give birth after an operation at Virika Hospital, Fort Portal. However, the operation was the actual beginning of her end because it was done badly due to negligence of some health workers at the hospital. Virika is a private hospital owned by the Catholic Church but partially supported by the Uganda Government.

Nancy Kabanyoro

After a long struggle for over 2 months as a result of bad operation, she had her last breathe on the night of 15^th, August, 2012. On Friday, 17^th June, 2012, we laid her to rest at her ancestral home in Kibiito Sub County, Kabarole District.

Actually, rumor which has not yet been confirmed has it that she was actually operated on by an intern student without proper supervision and the family is gathering more information to sue the hospital for such negligence. Five more other operations were conducted at Nsambya Hospital but it was too late to save a life of a 29 year old lady who was just starting a family. Fortunately, the baby is well and healthy.

This case is just a tip of an iceberg and portrays a true picture of the state of Uganda health sector; there are thousands of such cases in many Ugandan Hospitals and health centers causing thousands of deaths every month. Stories of a nurse leaving a patient on a drip, patients bleeding to death as a result of medical workers negligence among others are very common in the Ugandan media today? Mind you, it is not only negligence of medical, many are much more committed even with the little pay but lack basic facilities to enable them do their work.

For the record, I was born at Virika Hospital during Obote II and the stories I hear from people who are much older than me say that the hospital services especially the care were quite better compared to now. Health workers were much more committed to their work than today, their attitude towards patients and work was also much better. Even during the first ten years of President Museveni government, you could really see the commitment; you could feel much more care in such public health facilities like Virika Hospital.

Today, you can really see negligence by health workers in almost all public health facilities, I was not surprised when Bidandi Ssali appealed for medical help from government to allow him go abroad for treatment because he has been in government and is much aware of the state of the health sector, he can’t trust his life with Ugandan Doctors and Nurses because he knows they are not happy with the meager pay and funding to the health sector.

Ugandan leaders have no care because they are sure of better services abroad, everyone has been complaining of brain drain of Ugandan medical workers even to countries like Rwanda. Those who have remained in Uganda actually spend 80 percent of their time in private health facilities trying to make ends meet which leaves them exhausted with no time to concentrate and make proper prescriptions, treatment and even basic surgeries.

In addition to meager pay for medical workers by the government, Ugandan health facilities lack even the basic facilities to enable mothers deliver comfortably like surgical kits. The American diplomats were not stupid to question the impact of the $ 400 million the US government donates to the Ugandan health sector since the country’s health sector remains in a deplorable state.

Young mothers like Nancy are the future of this country, they have a lot to contribute to the development of this country but they are not well connected and have no resources to access better medical treatment and care from abroad.

The Uganda government therefore needs to wake up and increase on the national resource allocation to the health sector, improve on the salaries and other welfare of medical workers to avoid young mothers like Nancy who are bread winners to their families die at such productive years and as a result of negligence by medical workers due to lack of motivation as a result of a meager salary and limited resource allocation to the health sector to enable it properly function.