Loadshedding worsens child's agony
Nov 18, 2011
A visibly sick Michael Opedun was to be operated three weeks back but due to persistent load shedding, his operation has been delayed by three weeks.
By Dan Opolot
A visibly sick Michael Opedun was to be operated three weeks back but due to persistent load shedding, his operation has been delayed by three weeks.
According to his mother Teddy Asege hailing from Orungo Sub County in Amuria district, Opedun cannot defecate normally due to his health complication.
“He defecates only once in a week and Doctors say he needs to be operated in order to be able do it normally”. Asege said.
Opedun cannot sleep; he keeps on turning throughout the night due to excess pain in his abdomen.
“The theatre has scheduled Thursday as the day to handle such cases but power has continued blacking out on Thursday which has delayed the operation for three weeks now”. Asege said.
She added that Opedun is one of the four kids whose operations have been delayed for three weeks due to load shedding.
“More three kids in need of the same medical operation have been taken back home before being operated because their parents lacked money to facilitate their stay in the hospital”. Asege disclosed.
Cases of delayed operations as a result of load shedding seem to be common in Soroti referral Hospital.
Gabriel Ogwang 65, his operation to correct urinal health complication was last week delayed by one day after power went off minutes prior to his operation.
“Power went off before the operation and I had to endure the pain until power returned the next day”.
Most of the patients and their caretakers have reported that the hospital falls into total darkness whenever there is load shedding.
Eswaku on his bed at the Orthopedic ward in Soroti referral hospital
Yona Eswaku said that as a result of total darkness and congestion in this ward, people end up stepping on each other as they make their way out at night.
In the kids ward, a mother who only identified herself as Immaculate said that Nurses find it difficult fixing drip water pins into the kids when there is no power.
“Sometimes people use torches and candles but the light is not enough especially when it comes to finding a muscle where to fix drip water for a sick child”. Immaculate noted.
The Hospital Director Emmanuel Batiibwe declined to comment saying that they are still compiling the data on the effects of load shedding in the Hospital.
However, in a recent interview with journalist Dr. Batiibwe said the main Hospital standby generator broke down some time back leaving the hospital with only two small generators which cannot run the whole hospital.
“We only have two small generators which we use for lighting in the theatres whenever there is load shedding”.