Dilapidated health facility worries Kalangala residents

KALANGALA.

Kyamuswa Health Centre IV, a facility that serves 61 islands that make up Kyamuswa health sub-district, is in a sorry state, threatening lives of hundreds that seek services from the facility.

The only major facility serves as a main referral point for major and minor illnesses among the communities living on Ssese Islands and the health centre staff is overwhelmed by the congestion given the staff to patient ratio.

The facility has a workforce of 24 health officers, according to Mr Martin Mukasa, the officer in charge of the health centre, against the required 72 health workers at the facility.
It also offers minor surgeries, medication and treatment for various illnesses and consultancy before patients are referred to major facilities such as Entebbe hospital and to Kalangala’s main island, Bugala.

Entebbe government hospital is about 60 nautical miles away from the island on a boat and fewer patients, especially those in critical condition make it after that journey.
The health centre too, is not prepared to handle emergencies and the sanitation of the health facility is worrying, with wanting services.

The facility was designed to accommodate up to 30,000 people every month but it is poorly facilitated with no medicines, including crucial basic supplies.

The constant lack of drugs is compounded by understaffing and poor remuneration of staff, according to Mr Mukasa.

“Then what happens when you have no medicines? Such challenges force us to send patients for referral since some of the facilities are not functional and have limited staff that would work on them,” he said.

Kyamuswa Health Center IV is located on Bukasa Island.
Health officials also administer treatment to HIV/Aids patients enrolled on life treatment therapies. They also provide support to lower health centre III and IIs in the health sub-district.
But it is faced with several challenges that have stood in the way of better service delivery.

There is wide infrastructural challenges as the health centre is dilapidated and needs urgent upgrade to align it to the level of a health centre IV since it serves hundreds.
Also there is constant power shortage, lack of water and poor lavatory services.

According to Mr Mukasa, expectant mothers who seek their services are made to fetch water from the nearby Namirembe landing site about a mile away to use during and after delivery.

Also, the health workers and the patients always have to queue on a daily basis to utilise the only double stance pit latrine at the facility so as to ease themselves. Accessing clean water remains a night mare.

“We also have to use plywood to divide the few staff houses we have so as to cater for the health officers’ accommodation,” said Mr Richard Turyagyenda, the health centre management committee chairperson.

In a meeting with a team of health rights activists under the Advocacy for Better Health in June this year, several residents who use the health facility for immediate health attention lamented that often times, people are referred to Entebbe.
“We use at least a 15 horse power engine to move on water to Entebbe. That would take one eight hours to reach. If I am taking a pregnant mother, wouldn’t she deliver in the boat?” asked Mr Richard Lwanga, the Nakibanga LC 1 chairperson.

The facility receives Shs2.9m every quarter for running its centre activities. However, this, according to Mr Mukasa, is not enough to handle medical outreaches in the outlying islands where the health workers need to deliver antiretroviral treatment on a daily basis.

Kalangala District health officer, Hillary Bitakaramire in an interview with Daily Monitor at the district headquarters, said Kalangala receives limited funds for primary healthcare from central government to run and maintain the facility thus limited development. He, however, added that a combination of measures have been put in place to improve services at the facility in the health facilities so as to meet the required standards and among these are sourcing for funding from civil organisations such as the Centre for Disease control.