The attitude of health workers is the issue
Aug 30, 2009
Editor—I read with amusement the story of Wednesday that pregnant women who go for antenatal visits in Kamuli and Pallisa districts were to start receiving a transport refund of sh5,000.
Editor—I read with amusement the story of Wednesday that pregnant women who go for antenatal visits in Kamuli and Pallisa districts were to start receiving a transport refund of sh5,000.
While it is a noble cause, spending resources to ‘lure’ mothers to hospitals cannot be the best way to do it.
The recent Mityana incident where a mother died in labour out of the negligence of midwives is still fresh in our minds. Future health services NGO is not fully answering why few women go to health centres for antenatal and postnatal services. There are so many questions not answered: what about the rude nurses?
The NGO rightly noted that the women in this region “… end up in private clinics where inexperienced midwives handle themâ€. If they can afford to pay in the private clinics, lack of transport money cannot be the reason they don’t go to the public health centres.
Besides, if indeed women responded to this campaign, will the transport refund be permanently in place?
What happens when it ceases, like is common for time-bound projects? What is the implication of this campaign on the population growth of this country, especially Busoga region which is among the poorest in the country but highly populated?
Sarah Ongole
Kumi
While it is a noble cause, spending resources to ‘lure’ mothers to hospitals cannot be the best way to do it.
The recent Mityana incident where a mother died in labour out of the negligence of midwives is still fresh in our minds. Future health services NGO is not fully answering why few women go to health centres for antenatal and postnatal services. There are so many questions not answered: what about the rude nurses?
The NGO rightly noted that the women in this region “… end up in private clinics where inexperienced midwives handle themâ€. If they can afford to pay in the private clinics, lack of transport money cannot be the reason they don’t go to the public health centres.
Besides, if indeed women responded to this campaign, will the transport refund be permanently in place?
What happens when it ceases, like is common for time-bound projects? What is the implication of this campaign on the population growth of this country, especially Busoga region which is among the poorest in the country but highly populated?
Sarah Ongole
Kumi