Ohangwena, Kunene experience critical shortages of medicine

The governors of the Ohangwena and Kunene regions have expressed concern over ongoing medicine shortages at public health facilities in their regions. Kunene governor Vipuakuje Muharukua says the region is no exception to the ongoing medicine shortages affecting the country. Muharukua says he was briefed by the regional health director that hospitals at Opuwo, Khorixas and other parts of the region have been running low on medication for about three months. “I’m informed by the director that it has been three months now that the hospitals in the district of Opuwo and Khorixas, and the whole of the Kunene region, have been running low on medication,” he says. According to him, the shortages have resulted in patients spending long periods in queues only to find that the medication they require is unavailable. “The impact, of course, is that people would be standing in queues for a long time to get medication and then they get to the booth to get their medication, and medication is not there,” he says. Muharukua says the shortages extend beyond medicine for common ailments. He says there is particular concern over shortages of medication used to treat chronic illnesses. “There is a huge concern for diabetes, hypertension, ARVs and tuberculosis medication. So if those life-long medications are in short supply, one can imagine of others,” he says. Muharukua says some patients who can afford are being advised to obtain medication from private pharmacies. “Those with a small amount of money are able to go to the private pharmacies and procure,” he says. He says health authorities in the region are also using available budgets to procure critical medicines from private pharmacies when funds are released. “What the region is doing currently is to take the budget and when it’s released, they are going to private pharmacies to procure the most critical medicines they need,” he says. However, he says this approach places additional pressure on public finances. “The concern from the officials and the director of health is that indeed these are quite costly and very expensive to the public financing sector,” he says. Muharukua appeals for patience from both patients and health workers as the government works tow address the problem. “We as a government recognise that there is a problem,” he says. He urges members of the public not to direct their frustrations at healthcare workers. “They are not involved in decisions on acquiring medicine. Therefore, the patients must really be fair towards our young professionals who are working under strenuous conditions,” he says. Ohangwena governor Kadiva Hamutumwa says she personally witnessed medication shortages during a visit to a hospital in the region. Hamutumwa was speaking last week during a visit to Engela District Hospital. “I have seen today with my naked eyes, lack of medication. That is the biggest elephant in the room,” she said. “With a population such as ours, it is very sad that we are sending people back home without medication.” Hamutumwa said community members have raised concerns about the impact of medication shortages and changes in treatment. “The community has reported to me that because of the change in the high blood pressure medication, some of the elderly are starting to cough and actually have symptoms like that,” she said. She said the regional leadership intends to investigate the situation further. “We know that it’s a countrywide problem, but I think we are going to look at our Ohangwena region. “I’m going to Eenhana and we are going to see what is the situation at Eenhana District Hospital,” she said. Meanwhile, Erongo governor Nathalia /Goagoses says she has not received reports of severe medicine shortages in her region. “The report that I am getting from the health sector does not report any acute shortage of any medication in the Erongo region,” she says. /Goagoses says the region has recently expanded health services, including the opening of a new district hospital and a cancer unit. “We are really proud to say that the health services in Erongo region are really servicing the nation or the residents satisfactorily,” she says. “I did not receive any serious reports or concerns in this regard.” Oshana governor Hofni Iipinge says the region has received and stocked up on all the medicine that were previously in short supply. “We received all the medicines that was short. Until today the trucks are offloading,” he says. Oshikoto governor Sacky Kathindi says the region has had a shortage of dental cavity medication, but says the issue has been resolved. “The only thing that was short in Oshikoto was anaesthetics for dental pain, but it has been resolved, the health director informed me,” he says. The post Ohangwena, Kunene experience critical shortages of medicine appeared first on The Namibian .