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HOSPITAL CRISIS: OVER 30 CANCER PATIENTS SENT HOME, AT RISK

14/02/2022 08:34:00 Phiwase Phungwayo

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MANZINI - There are over 30 cervical cancer patients who have been sent home, putting their lives at risk, following that government is failing to procure suture equipment from suppliers.

Suture equipment is used during an operation to stitch parts of a wound. The equipment includes; needles, fine scissors and tissue forcepts. Government, through the Ministry of Health, faces another challenge in the shortage of the material as cancer patients, who require specific kinds of needles, are turned back. They are told that the operations cannot be carried out without this specialised equipment. The needles, which are called needle drivers, are usually used in surgery during operation.

Patients

It has been gathered that the specific type needed for the cervical cancer patients are; number six of two, five of number zero and four of number 2/0. All public health facilities, including Mbabane, Pigg’s Peak and Mankayane Government hospitals are lacking these needles, it was reliably gathered. So serious is the equipment shortage in the country that locals who can only afford public hospital services will have to part with about E5 000 to purchase this type of equipment in order to get operated on at public health facilities. An affected local, whose mother was turned back, shared with this publication that she took her (mother) to the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital in Manzini, where they were told that the patient had to go through an operation to remove the womb. The patient suffers from cervical cancer. Since the patient lacked adequate blood, her family was informed that they had to seek donations from same group blood donors as the hospital did not have blood.

According to the source, they managed to get the blood a week later and she went back to the hospital, with the anticipation that the operation would be carried out. “My mother was told that she was supposed to be admitted, but because of the lack of needles, they could not operate on her. I got the shock of my life that a big hospital doesn’t have the right needles, where does this happen?” she expressed. The source said the hospital gave her a prescription of the needles that were needed for the operation for her to buy with her own funds. Again, the source narrated that she went out in search for the suture materials. She said she was told at a private hospital that they had size 2.0, which they sometimes sold at E65, but they did not have the other needle sizes.

“Then I called a local pharmaceutical company and luckily they had all the required equipment. The quotation totalled E5 000. However, you cannot buy the needles individually, you have to buy the whole box,” she said. The source said she called the Central Medical Stores, which is responsible for the procurement of medical drugs and other health-related merchandise for government and was informed that there was no supply of the needles. The source relayed that she wrote a letter to the RFM Hospital, requesting that the facility assists her in purchasing the needles since they were costly and her mother would not use all of them for the operation. The source elaborated that she was told that it was impossible to get it from the suggested supplier as government procured it elsewhere, at discounted prices. She said this concerned her because it was a matter of life and death as one could die from cervical cancer.

Needles

“So, basically it meant that my mother should die because government cannot procure needles for E5 000. How many other patients who don’t have a voice have been subjected to such? I am so disappointed,” she said. The source explained that with the assistance of relatives, they managed to raise the E5 000 and bought the equipment. Even after she could get the suture equipment and her mother was operated on, the source said the hospital once again told her that there were no antibiotics and that she had to buy them from her own pocket. “Now that was the other shock, how can a whole government hospital be without antibiotics? We pay taxes, where does the money go to?” she asked.

Meanwhile, a healthcare worker at the RFM Hospital disclosed that the issue of shortage of suture equipment had left them with no choice, but to send patients back home. She said in the past month, over 30 cancer patients with cervical cancer were turned back as they required an operation that involved the removal of the womb. She said without the equipment, patients could die as a lot of blood was lost during the operation. According to MayoClinic.com, cervical cancer is a type of cancer that occurs in the cells of the cervix — the lower part of the uterus. Various strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection, play a role in causing most cervical cancer cases.

When exposed to HPV, the body’s immune system typically prevents the virus from doing harm. In a small percentage of people, however, the virus survives for years, contributing to the process that causes some cervical cells to become cancer cells. “You can reduce your risk of developing cervical cancer by having screening tests and receiving a vaccine that protects against HPV infection,” according to the site.

Operations

“It has been painful seeing patients who require to be operated on going back home due to the shortage of suture materials. We have also received reports that some have even succumbed to their illnesses,” the healthcare worker revealed. She further mentioned that when patients were turned back, they were told the truth because there was no use giving hope to them when they themselves were not sure when this issue would be addressed. “It is either we prescribe the material and tell them to buy it themselves, or they go back home and die,” the healthcare worker said. Meanwhile, she said it was not only cervical cancer patients who were turned back, but those who needed deep surgery. Management at RFM Hospital said the hospital had been struggling for a long time now, and it had been about six months since they had trouble procuring suture materials. They were asked about the number of patients who were turned back at the hospital and how long the issue of procurement of the equipment had lasted. When drawn for comment, Director of Health Services Dr Vusi Magagula acknowledged the shortage of the suture equipment and drugs shortage in government hospitals. Dr Magagula said there was no money to procure these.

Shortage

Meanwhile, just last week, this publication reported that the country was facing a nationwide shortage of rabies vaccine, an immunisation used to prevent rabies in people who have been bitten by an animal or otherwise exposed to the rabies virus. Currently, the ordinary liSwati has to fork out E500 or E700 for the rabies vaccine, while the country tries to secure its orders from South Africa. The shortage was confirmed by the director of health services, who said there was a shortage from the government of South Africa that needed to prioritise its needs first before making supplies.

Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) Secretary General Mayibongwe Masangane was quoted as having attributed the drugs shortage to government not making payments to suppliers, something that compromised the country’s healthcare system. He said a lot of lives would be lost if government did not deal with this challenge promptly and aggressively.
Worth noting is that the recent issue of drugs and equipment shortage is not an isolated one in the country as nurses downed tools last year, and delivered a petition to the Ministry of Health, demanding that it dealt with the issue of drugs shortages in the country’s health facilities. They also called upon government to address the issue of shortage of nurses at the country’s medical centres.