People have died in
Swaziland / eSwatini as medicine has run out because the government has not
paid suppliers.
At least three patients
using the Nhlangano Health Centre died because they could
not get drugs to control their blood pressure.
The Swaziland
Democratic Nurses Union believes many more may have died across Swaziland.
The Times of Swaziland reported on Tuesday (14 May 2019), ‘It has emerged
that across the country, health facilities are struggling with a diminishing
supply of critical drugs, but most affected are the elderly, who suffer from
high blood pressure.’
It reported that Nhlangano
Health Centre has also run out of medicine to treat chronic conditions like
stomach ulcers, and for people with mental illnesses.
It reported a health worker
saying, ‘It’s a very precarious situation. Doctors are now scared to admit
patients in the absence of medicine because relatives may end shifting the
blame to the hospital, yet the underlying problem is that of the drug shortage.’
The newspaper said there
was also a serious shortage of medicines to treat flu, just as the winter
season approached.
President of the Swaziland
Democratic Nurses Union Bheki Mamba told the Times several facilities across the country continued to face
serious challenges because they had run out of medical supplies.
Mamba said, ‘Government has
failed in its obligation to make health care accessible to the populace, and
this has resulted in people losing trust in the health system.’
Public services in
Swaziland are in crisis as the government, handpicked by absolute monarch King
Mswati III, owes E3 billion to suppliers.
There have been reports across Swaziland that hospitals
cannot afford to feed patients and vital medicines have
run out.
In December 2018 the
Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Mbabane Government Hospital was reported to be close to shut-down because equipment was not being maintained. People
were dying because of this, it was reported.
In September 2018 it was reported at least six
children in Swaziland had died from diarrhoea and many more
were sick because the government was broke and could not pay for vaccines. It
would cost US$6 for the vaccine to immunise a child.
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.
The
World Health Organisation (WHO) reported there were not
enough doctors, nurses and support staff. WHO conducted the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) scoping exercise in
Swaziland. Its report
stated, ‘The country has
inadequate health workforce in both numbers and skills. The distribution of
health workforce is also skewed in favour of urban areas with some rural health
facilities having staffing gaps. Other health workforce challenges include;
retention of skilled staff due to frequent rotation of workers especially
nurses; and government absorption of donor funded positions.’
WHO added, ‘The
distribution of health facilities and access to essential health services
create inequities between rural and urban populations.’
See also
Report:
patients die as Swaziland government hospital runs out of cash
Medicine
shortage: five die
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