GOVT HOSPITALS NOW NOOSES

Sir,

The first priority of any government is to keep its people alive by ensuring that no person dies in a queue or in a hospital bed waiting to get treatment for a curable disease. It is atrocious that people have died because of a lack of insulin. And there could be more who have died as a result of the frequent medication shortages. All roads are supposed to be headed to a First World status for Eswatini and so it is high time our government starts taking us seriously as human beings who deserve better treatment, especially when it comes to our health and precious lives. Most government hospitals are in a state of disrepair; the situation is so bad that rats are living large in some of these hospitals.

Dying

Our Mbabane Government Hospital is short-staffed with almost no medical supplies and is quickly turning into a noose for all the patients who need serious life support. More and more of emaSwati are being diagnosed with kidney disease and a significant number of these patients end up dead waiting for a slot for renal dialysis. The nation is dying at the hands of our government hospitals, not just of chronic illnesses, but also of a long list of treatable diseases. Something’s got to give!

Priorities

Government needs to gain a fresh perspective on its priorities on where it needs to unapologetically spend money for the benefit of all emaSwati. It is frustrating to think about the money wastages when there are serious priorities that could be taken care of, that is, the people dying in our hospitals who cannot even get a basic Panado to manage their pain. Why does government keep fussing about things that do not matter and overlook the things that can keep emaSwati alive to see a First World Eswatini? Even within the health sector, there is a lot of money that is being thrown at programmes that have long expired. We have heard of capacity building programmes and other good for nothing conferences that do not add value. There are many emaSwati who cannot afford medical insurance to take advantage of the private clinics and hospitals inside and outside of the country.

Depend

Even with some of the specialised medical equipment, such as renal dialysis, some of the private clinics depend on government’s major hospitals. There is a grand scheme of things that government funds have to keep on funding at the expense of emaSwati who, for the most part, do not matter until they have to cough up money in the form of tax. Government should focus on maintaining the basic guarantees, which is food in the stomach and keeping people alive and healthy. There are a lot of government funded projects the country can easily do away with and keep people alive.

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