Alvine Kapitako
Windhoek-The Councillor of Sesfontein Constituency, Julius Kaujova, has expressed concern that the clinics at Erwee and Anker villages only have one nurse.
“So at the end of the month when people are a lot or the nurse wants to go for shopping or when the nurse is on sick leave the clinics close,” said Kaujova, who visited the two villages in the constituency last week.
Kaujova is also concerned that the two clinics do not have ambulances to transport very sick patients to Khorixas.
“When I visited the area I witnessed how a patient had to wait for more than six hours for an ambulance from Khorixas, and what puzzles me is that the two clinics are in close proximity to Kamanjab health centre,” said Kaujova.
Kaujova said the two clinics were promised ambulances about two years ago but that promise is yet to materialize.
“Patients have to wait long for blood results because when the samples are taken they have to be taken to a laboratory at the district hospital and with the slow ambulance services patients have to wait longer and thus their treatment is delayed,” added Kaujova.
Furthermore, he also observed that both clinics did not have electricity. “I was told that the electricity was cut off because of non-payments,” said Kaujova.
He added that the lack of electricity has affected the operations of nurses at the two clinics.
“The nurses can’t perform BP (take blood pressure) because the machines they use need electricity and if pregnant women deliver at night the nurses have to use the torch of cellphones for light because it’s dark. And some of the medicines require to be in cold storage but without electricity this cannot happen,” said Kaujova.
Efforts to get comment from the health directorate in Kunene Region proved futile with all queries directed to the health ministry in Windhoek.