HEALTH SYSTEM UNFIT TO FIGHT XBB - SWADNU

MBABANE – The Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) says the country’s health system is not fit to respond to any strain that may be caused by the new sub-variant of Omicron.

swadnu Secretary General (SG) Mayibongwe Masangane was giving an insight of health workers following that on Saturday, South Africa, through the Centre for Epidemiology at Stellenbosch University, announced the first case of the XBB.1.5 sub-variant of Omicron, a variant of COVID-19. Speaking on Channel 404 the Director for the Centre for Epidemiology at Stellenbosch University, Tulio De Oliveira, said the case was one of a 100 genome and there was concern that it might fuel another wave of infections. “In case the number of prevalence goes up, which in case the number of hospitalisation which we feel it is extremely unlikely to happen, the public will be informed. At the moment we are alert but not concerned that it will cause major problem,” he said.

Crucial

Acting Director of Health Services in Eswatini Dr Velephi Okello said in as much as the sub-variant had not been discovered in the country, it was crucial for people to take extra caution. She noted that more information about the XBB sub-variant was being discovered, therefore, it was too early to say it might not cause strain or increase hospitalisation. Okello stated that at the moment, research indicated that the XBB was highly transmissible but not deadly. She stated that this did not mean they should not be on high alert.

Worth noting is that government, in August 2022, announced a de-escalation of COVID-19 response. These included the closing of Mavuso Isolation Centre in Manzini, reduction of human resource that was roped during the pandemic and release of daily COVID-19 cases. The acting director said the Ministry of Health would not be escalating any response at the moment but would work with what they had. “Scaling up would be judged from the number of hospitalisation,” she said.

She explained that hospitals in the country had the capacity to admit COVID-19 patients but once they observed an increase in these facilities, they would have to look at revisiting the response. “There is no need to panic,” she said. Okello urged emaSwati to exercise caution at all times because COVID-19 was still spreading. These include wearing of masks, use of alcohol based sanitiser among other safety precautions.

Emergency

Meanwhile, the SWADNU SG felt that the health system was not ready to respond to any medical emergency. He noted that a number of health care workers, who were enlisted at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, were released. He stated that the country still had limited numbers of health care workers. Masangane said already the system was strained in terms of human resource, therefore, a strain of COVID-19 infections was likely to cause havoc. The SG said the nurses, who were enlisted during the COVID-19 pandemic, were supposed to be hired permanently in order to increase human resource in the sector.

Still on human resource, he stated that there were limited numbers of laboratory technicians as a result clinics could only conduct limited tests.
Further, Masangane decried the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE). He revealed that there was still a serious shortage of PPE in the country’s health facilities. “Mankayane maternity ward was closed because there were no gloves,” he said. Masangane said some health facilities did not have gloves.

Furthermore, he said health care workers in the country’s health facilities, more especially those in theatres, constantly reused face masks because of the shortage. Due to the shortages, Masangane said people should not be misled but be told the truth about the situation in the country’s health facilities. “We are not ready to respond to medical emergencies. People should be told the real situation on the ground,” he said. The SG said honesty would make parties come together and deliberate on how to improve the situation. He said if it was not for donations, the situation would be bad.

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