By Isaac Salima:
Situated at Bvumbwe Trading Centre in Thyolo District, Bvumbwe Health Centre serves about 700 clients daily.
On the day of our visit, we found patients in long queues waiting for their turn.
“This is usually the case, especially on Mondays. You have to come here early,” said one of the patients.
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When one gets to the facility’s outpatients department, they are welcomed by a poster which emphasises on the hospital’s commitment to serving its clients well.
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However, the reality on the ground seems different as when one gets to the hospital, they are welcomed by a stench.
“All the toilets are full and the unpleasant smell comes from there,” Andrea Moses, one of the patients ,said.
Opened around 2002, the hospital has been a blessing to community members as it eases the burden of people covering a long distance to access health care.
However, the situation is different now, as the facility is becoming a threat to patients’ lives.
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Instead of rushing there for healing, people now think twice before seeking services at the hospital.
For a start, piped water was disconnected some three months ago, such that patients now scramble for the precious liquid at a borehole.
The toilet facilities have been full for months now, compromising sanitation efforts.
“Toilets which are inside the facility stopped working as there is no piped water. The toilets which are outside are also full. Now people have resorted to helping themselves anywhere, hence the stench,” Mirrium Masina, a pregnant woman, said.
“It is a tough situation because people like me also have to be searching for potable water,” she indicated.
That is not all; pregnant women have no proper place for them to sleep.
The makeshift room that accommodates them has no proper door.
There are no beds and mattresses inside.
The women have to endure tough conditions such as sleeping on the floor.
“We sleep on the floor. There are no mosquito nets. Why should one opt to come here for delivery?” questioned Edna Goweka.
In a country where there has been a campaign encouraging women to deliver in hospitals, according to Goweka, the environment at the facility does little to attract women to it.
This is happening when a building that was constructed to address the challenge of lack of accommodation for pregnant women is just idle and deteriorating.
Chairperson for the facility’s administration committee, Davie Sulani, said the contractor was yet to hand over the building due to payment issues.
“This building has been idle for some time and its state keeps on deteriorating. It could have helped in offering our pregnant women a better place to house them as they await delivery,” he said.
As if that is not enough, the hospital’s incinerator is not functional, living medical workers with nowhere to burn waste materials.
The placenta pit had its manhole cover stolen and patients are subjected to a stench that makes life unbearable.
“A fence at the hospital collapsed and some unscrupulous people took advantage of the situation to steal a manhole cover for the placenta pit. The pit is supposed to be covered well so that the stench is controlled. But that is not the case here,” he said.
He added that the problem also affects workers at the hospital.
“I feel for them. They need a conducive environment so that they can carry out their duties. Look now, there is no water, toilets are full and the stench is all over. Their offices and wards are not spacious enough,” he said.
The facility’s in-charge Dennis Filipo lamented appalling conditions at the hospital.
“A hospital needs to be on top, in terms of adherence to sanitation issues. But this is not the case here because water was disconnected some three months ago because of an outstanding bill of K4.8 million. Our partners have promised that they will settle the bill,” he said.
The country’s healthcare system has been on its needs as it struggles with multiple problems.
The government has also been found wanting in ensuring that infrastructure in the health sector is in good shape.
Lack of a special allocation to go towards maintenance of health facilities has also triggered the problem.
A health worker who refused to be identified said health centres are not allocated money to address small problems.
“You have to knock at the district council offices and sometimes, with bureaucracy, it takes forever to be assisted and, in the end, one gets frustrated. Imagine you have to ask for the replacement of a broken windowpane,” he said.
Meanwhile, health rights activist Maziko Matemba has said it is for this reason that they have been advocating for enough funding for the health sector so that it achieves its purpose of serving lives.
As at now, the health facility in Thyolo is struggling to do that.
