Buyinja Health Centre IV calls out
Sep 27, 2005
<b>Julius Kapwepwe</b><br><br>As a development practitioner, I was mesmerised by the condition of health service at Buyinja Health Centre IV(HCIV), Bukooli South constituency in Bugiri district.
Julius Kapwepwe
As a development practitioner, I was mesmerised by the condition of health service at Buyinja Health Centre IV(HCIV), Bukooli South constituency in Bugiri district.
Honourable Patrick Ochieng represents the constituency in Parliament, while the district woman MP is Hon. Justine Lumumba.
Through the Community-Based Monitoring and Evaluation System (CBMES) facilitated by Uganda Debt Network, my numerous visits to the Buyinja HCIV took me to the maternity ward. Apparently, the ward has metallic beds with ‘Property of Uganda’ labels.
Some of the beds, nonetheless, have given up their springs that used to hold them together. Only two out of 22 beds had mattresses. Patients simply bring their own beddings, including mats for those that can’t afford mattresses.
One patient, John, whose kid was diagnosed with malaria was advised by staff at the health centre to buy the intravenous drip.
Eventually he bought it, at sh4,700 on September 20, 2005 from a nearby clinic. If this situation is not surprising, its extent is worrying.
The generator that the health centre received about two years ago is said to have never worked, either at night or during daytime, willfully or forcefully. The incinerator, rather than do its work, now functions as a pen for two goats usually tied around it.
These goats, because they really look idle, have resorted to mounting each other after every other short interval.
A female patient joked that the goats used to await night time to mate, but had since intensified this business to day time, given that the they are tied next to each other on the metals that also hold the roof of the incinerator that appears non-functional: given the appearance of five boxes and two buckets stuffed with rubbish that would otherwise have been burnt.
The statistics from a discussion with the midwife at the maternity ward indicate that about 36-40 mothers are attended to monthly, even though there is only one kerosene lamp that provides light in the maternity, male and children wards.
We can always pretend to rubbish some of these issues as, for example, noted above for one reason or reasons. However, we shall find it very difficult and risky to negate citizens and community concerns in the delivery of the health service. Yet we have an opportunity for feedback as to improve public service delivery.
The writer is a Programme Officer, Uganda Debt Network
As a development practitioner, I was mesmerised by the condition of health service at Buyinja Health Centre IV(HCIV), Bukooli South constituency in Bugiri district.
Honourable Patrick Ochieng represents the constituency in Parliament, while the district woman MP is Hon. Justine Lumumba.
Through the Community-Based Monitoring and Evaluation System (CBMES) facilitated by Uganda Debt Network, my numerous visits to the Buyinja HCIV took me to the maternity ward. Apparently, the ward has metallic beds with ‘Property of Uganda’ labels.
Some of the beds, nonetheless, have given up their springs that used to hold them together. Only two out of 22 beds had mattresses. Patients simply bring their own beddings, including mats for those that can’t afford mattresses.
One patient, John, whose kid was diagnosed with malaria was advised by staff at the health centre to buy the intravenous drip.
Eventually he bought it, at sh4,700 on September 20, 2005 from a nearby clinic. If this situation is not surprising, its extent is worrying.
The generator that the health centre received about two years ago is said to have never worked, either at night or during daytime, willfully or forcefully. The incinerator, rather than do its work, now functions as a pen for two goats usually tied around it.
These goats, because they really look idle, have resorted to mounting each other after every other short interval.
A female patient joked that the goats used to await night time to mate, but had since intensified this business to day time, given that the they are tied next to each other on the metals that also hold the roof of the incinerator that appears non-functional: given the appearance of five boxes and two buckets stuffed with rubbish that would otherwise have been burnt.
The statistics from a discussion with the midwife at the maternity ward indicate that about 36-40 mothers are attended to monthly, even though there is only one kerosene lamp that provides light in the maternity, male and children wards.
We can always pretend to rubbish some of these issues as, for example, noted above for one reason or reasons. However, we shall find it very difficult and risky to negate citizens and community concerns in the delivery of the health service. Yet we have an opportunity for feedback as to improve public service delivery.
The writer is a Programme Officer, Uganda Debt Network