3 DEATHS BLAMED ON DRUGS SHORTAGE

NHLANGANO – At least three patients are thought to have died needlessly due to an ongoing shortage of medication in one health facility in the country.

The nurses’ union believes the figures could even be much higher if cases can be investigated further.

The three suspected cases are only confined to the Nhlangano Health Centre, where patients who have been suffering from hypertension (high blood pressure) eventually lost their lives.

It should be noted that the patients did not necessarily die at the facility’s premises, but succumbed to their illnesses after failing to get access to critical drugs.
One of the victims, according to a source at the health facility, is an elderly woman who frequented the hospital but could not get access to medication. Two other males, who recently collapsed and died around the same town, are also believed to have succumbed to complications with their blood pressure because they were no longer getting their medication.

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.

At Nhlangano Health Centre for instance, the facility ran out of hypertension drugs around February, and since then, they have been turning patients away, according to a staffer.

The source further revealed that just recently, they also ran out of medicine to treat chronic conditions like stomach ulcers, and that of people with mental illnesses. “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,” explained the health worker.

Despite the aforementioned chronic illnesses, it appears like the serious shortage of medicines will also render some hospitals, like the Nhlangano Health Centre, incompetent to treat even the mildest flu this winter season.

flu

This comes after dozens of patients suffering from flu symptoms complained that they were only given paracetamol (a painkiller), after being told that other prescribed medicines were in short supply. One interviewed patient said she spent over five hours waiting in the queue at the Nhlangano Health Centre yesterday, where she had gone to seek medical attention after she was attacked by what she thought was a bout of flu.

She said the doctor indeed prescribed medicine for influenza, but her disappointment came when she reached the facility’s dispensary, where she was only given a packet of paracetamol or panado, which is a common painkiller used to treat mild pain. “This was so sad. I just wished they had informed me early enough. I could have made plans to visit another facility straight away,” she said.

The woman told this publication that she ended up boarding a bus to another private clinic situated around Mahamba, where she eventually got some of the medicine she needed for her condition. “But the treatment was just too expensive,” she said.
An investigation conducted by this publication discovered that it’s not just flu alone. Many other patients suffering from ailments like high blood pressure and diabetes were reportedly turned away at the same facility.

Mothers also complained that they were not getting medicine prescribed for their children at the health centre’s pharmacy.
President of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union Bheki Mamba conceded that several facilities across the country continued to face serious challenges because they have run out of medical supplies.

“It’s just unfortunate that people are dying out there yet nothing tangible is being done to arrest the situation.
“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. Even the road map that was being presented by the prime minister cannot bring hope if people continue to die or to be turned away from facilities because there are no drugs,” he said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Health Lizzy Nkosi said she was unaware of depleted drugs in local facilities. She said in as far as government was concerned, their purchasing of drugs was on point, which made her believe there was adequate medical supplies at the central medical stores.

“This could be an isolated problem. It could happen that it is an issue of logistics at that particular health facility, because what I know is that there was enough medicine at the central medical stores,” she insisted.

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