Power outages halting public health services-NONM
The National Organization of Nurses and Midwives (NONM) has said power outages have badly hit the country’s health service delivery system.
NONM Executive Director, Dorothy Ngoma, criticised government for failing to solve the problem saying power outages are not an accident but a result of negligence on the part of the current regime.
“Due to the current power outages, we are witnessing the worst incident of a crumbling health service delivery system in recent times. We have cases of premature babies dying in our hospitals due to the absence of power for the incubators and whenever authorities are told about these things, they would ask for names of those children who are dying. I say this is unacceptable,” Ngoma said.
Recently, President Peter Mutharika assured the nation the power outages would be a thing of the past banking his hopes on some generators reportedly on their way to Malawi.
But Ngoma said in an interview the country’s hospitals cannot wait up to December.
“Our nurses and midwives, who are already demotivated by low pay and a bad working environment, among others, are now working in the toughest environment in our country’s history, some are reported to be using the flash lights of their cell phones in the course of their duties. Imagine a nurse having to do this whilst helping a woman deliver her child,” Ngoma queried.
She has since called on the government to come up with solutions to the current power outages ,saying the hardest hit are the country’s poor who rely on public hospitals for their health needs.
Malawi is experiencing one of her worst electricity challenges in recent times with various stakeholders complaining that the power outages have brought the country’s industry to a standstill.
Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi officials recently told civil society organisations in Lilongwe that Malawians should expect a decrease in the intensity of power outages by January next year.
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