Patients in a public
hospital in Swaziland / eSwatini were only fed two slices of bread at meals when
food ran out because the government had not paid suppliers.
It was reported the bakery
would only deliver bread if it was paid in advance.
Swaziland is reeling from a health crisis because the government has not paid it debts.
Nurses plan a protest march against government.
The Times of Swaziland reported on Monday (18 June 2019) that the food shortage hit two
public hospitals, Hlatikhulu Government Hospital and Nhlangano Health Centre,
both in the Shiselweni Region.
It reported at Hlatikhulu,
‘patients revealed that for the past week, hospital staff had been dishing only
two slices of dry bread for all the meals of the day’.
It added, ‘An interviewed
patient said there was a brief relief on Tuesday when they were given porridge
and soup. Thereafter, the patient said they were back to the bread supply.’
At Nhlangano it was reported
staff paid for food out of their own money.
In the past food shortages
have been reported at the Mbabane
Government Hospital and again at Hlatikhulu
Government Hospital.
The food problem is one of many
facing the health service in Swaziland which is caused by the government’s
inability to pay suppliers. There are shortages of many drugs across the
kingdom. Local media reported in the past that many people,
including children, have
died as a result.
Members of the Swaziland
Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) plan to
march and deliver a petition to
the Ministry of Health on Friday (22 June 2019) to demand it addresses the
drugs shortage.
It is not only a problem of drugs. Hospital equipment,
including
at intensive-care units at Mbabane
Government Hospital, has also not been
maintained and cannot be used.
In June 2018 it was revealed there were only
12 working public ambulances in the whole of
Swaziland because the government failed to maintain them. It had bought no new
ambulances since 2013.
See also
HIV
drugs not available across Swaziland as health crisis deepens
Swaziland health crisis getting worse as budgets
cut. Rural areas most affected
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/02/swaziland-health-crisis-getting-worse.html
Medicine shortage: five die
Medicine shortage: five die
Report: patients die as Swaziland government
hospital runs out of cash
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