Katima Mulilo – Heavy rains last week flooded the clinic at Chotto, bringing to a grinding halt all medical services to the community for an entire day.
The disruption left scores of patients without any form of medical assistance. The clinic which serves more than 50 patients a day left clinic staff with no other choice, but to close the facility and to vacate the premises until help could show up. Unfortunately no assistance materialised. What exacerbated the already appalling situation was that a sewerage pond at the hospital has been overflowing making hygiene a challenge for both patients and staff at the clinic.
One nurse who did not want to be named said the sewerage problem has been reported countless times to the ministry of works, but nothing has been done to date. “The sewerage problem has been there for a very long time and it has been reported, but to no avail. Even flooding during the rainy season is a problem that management knows about. We have to constantly close the clinic,” said the nurse. According to her the clinic is built in a wetland area and needs to be filled with sand to avoid flooding. “They should look at having the [area in which the clinic is build] filled up with sand, because this is a yearly occurrence resulting in the interruption of medical services,” the nurse said.
Julia Siluta, a visibly ill patient who visited the clinic could not be assisted and expressed disappointment with the situation. She had to return home without any assistance whatsoever, despite needing urgent medical attention. “I did not get any treatment. We were told the clinic is closed because it is flooded. You can even see the water for yourself, it is mixed with sewerage water, which is a breeding ground for mosquitos. We don’t understand why the clinic is closed every year without any action,” Siluta complained. Due to the heavy rains, there were also reports of collapsing houses in the informal settlement of Chotto last week. Repeated attempts to get comment from the ministry of works or the management of the regional health directorate proved futile at the time of going to press.
By George Sanzila