06 Feb 2020

Maun General Hospital superintendent, Ms Khutsafalo Lempadi says there is a lot of improvement in availability of drugs, including those for non-communicable diseases in health facilities.

Responding to comments by some residents of Thito ward in a meeting recently, Ms Lempadi revealed that they had made efforts to ensure 100 per cent availability of drugs for diabetes and 85 per cent for high blood pressure.

Ms Lempadi also urged patients to cooperate if given substitute drugs.

Earlier, residents had complained about shortage of drugs at health facilities and that they were forced to buy them from private pharmacies, leading to some patients defaulting. 

They also complained about shortage of doctors at Letsholathebe Memorial Hospital, despite it being upgraded to a referral facility. 

Residents said they were forced to travel long distance to access specialised health services. 

Ms Lempadi however revealed that shortage of drugs would be addressed as they had secured a place at Disana Clinic to use as a warehouse.

In a recent full council session, it was reported that the district had been experiencing challenges of attracting direct supply to augment the supply by the Central Medical Store (CMS), as drug companies failed to honour the requested quota for the district.

The drugs in question are antibiotics, painkillers and supplementary drugs. 

Ms Lempadi stated that other improvements would be achieved once the Maun General Hospital is operational as it was currently undergoing refurbishment and reported to be behind schedule.

She also admitted that shortage of medical doctors and midwives was a serious concern, not only in the district, but across countrywide.

She appreciated that Thito Clinic was serving a large number of people, explaining that initially, the clinic was serviced by two midwives and two general nurses.

She said due to staff shortage, one midwife was transferred and not replaced and at a later stage, one general nurse requested transfer and was also not replaced.

On other issues, Ms Lempadi urged residents to join hands with the District Health Management Team in the fight against malaria.

She revealed that they had  many programmes in place to effectively control the spread of malaria, citing the indoor residual spraying and the cleaning of surroundings to minimise the breeding spaces for the mosquitoes, among others. 

Residents were also advised to wear long sleeved clothes.

Ms Lempadi also warned residents about rabies and asked them to see their healthcare professionals if they have been bitten or scratched by an animal before any symptoms occur.  

It was reported that domestic dogs were the most common carriers of the virus, with more than 99 per cent of human rabies deaths being dog-mediated. 

Members of the community were advised to immediately wash with soap and water if they get bitten or scratched by a dog before seeing a healthcare provider.ENDS