15 babies die due to traditional remedies
Patients travel long distances for care
Despite only having capacity for eight patients, the maternity ward at Nankudu District Hospital sees up to 16 admissions a day.
A senior medical officer at Nankudu District Hospital in the Kavango West Region has revealed that about 15 babies have died at home this year due to their parents’ reliance on traditional remedies.
Speaking during a recent visit by officials from the Office of the First Lady, Dr Glennson Haihambo laid the blame for this reliance on the difficulty to access healthcare facilities in the area.
According to him, the long distances between facilities and inland communities poses serious risks, particularly for patients and expectant mothers who sometimes travel about 200 kilometres to access healthcare.
"When parents see that their child is sick and the hospital is far away, they resort to using traditional methods. Unfortunately, some of these traditional methods have resulted in babies dying. This year alone, I've already certified close to 15 babies who have died in their homes. When you look at the causes of death, you can see that they stem from these traditional methods,” he said.
Haihambo urged the construction of more healthcare services closer to the people to prevent them from resorting to traditional remedies for ailments. “If we bring health services closer to the people, they will be able to reach the hospitals in time and avoid resorting to traditional methods. This will help reduce the number of babies dying,” he added.
Critical shortage
Meanwhile, Dr Klementine Kabono, the medical officer at the maternity ward at Nankudu District Hospital, said there is also a high number of babies who are born before their mothers can make it to the hospital.
"This is due to the long distances our patients travel. Additionally, we face pharmaceutical supply challenges, with many medications often out of stock. This sometimes forces us to refer patients needing caesarean sections to other facilities because we lack the necessary anaesthetics," she said.
There is also a critical shortage of medical professionals in the region, she noted.
Currently, only six doctors serve the area, with two expected to leave soon. This situation heightens concerns about healthcare provision.
“Of the six medical doctors, three are Namibians and the other three are foreigners. From these three foreigners, we are losing two. One is leaving this month, and one is leaving next month. So, we are only going to have four medical doctors on the ground,” Kabono lamented.
Despite admitting about 70 expectant mothers a month, the hospital’s maternity ward has only eight beds, forcing medical staff to mix patients with various treatment needs in a single room, she added.
"If we take you to our maternity ward, where we sometimes have total admissions of 71 in a month, you will see we only have an eight-bed capacity. What happens when we have about 12 to 16 admissions per day? Maternity wards receive patients every hour, and all health centres and clinics refer their cases to us.”
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Speaking during a recent visit by officials from the Office of the First Lady, Dr Glennson Haihambo laid the blame for this reliance on the difficulty to access healthcare facilities in the area.
According to him, the long distances between facilities and inland communities poses serious risks, particularly for patients and expectant mothers who sometimes travel about 200 kilometres to access healthcare.
"When parents see that their child is sick and the hospital is far away, they resort to using traditional methods. Unfortunately, some of these traditional methods have resulted in babies dying. This year alone, I've already certified close to 15 babies who have died in their homes. When you look at the causes of death, you can see that they stem from these traditional methods,” he said.
Haihambo urged the construction of more healthcare services closer to the people to prevent them from resorting to traditional remedies for ailments. “If we bring health services closer to the people, they will be able to reach the hospitals in time and avoid resorting to traditional methods. This will help reduce the number of babies dying,” he added.
Critical shortage
Meanwhile, Dr Klementine Kabono, the medical officer at the maternity ward at Nankudu District Hospital, said there is also a high number of babies who are born before their mothers can make it to the hospital.
"This is due to the long distances our patients travel. Additionally, we face pharmaceutical supply challenges, with many medications often out of stock. This sometimes forces us to refer patients needing caesarean sections to other facilities because we lack the necessary anaesthetics," she said.
There is also a critical shortage of medical professionals in the region, she noted.
Currently, only six doctors serve the area, with two expected to leave soon. This situation heightens concerns about healthcare provision.
“Of the six medical doctors, three are Namibians and the other three are foreigners. From these three foreigners, we are losing two. One is leaving this month, and one is leaving next month. So, we are only going to have four medical doctors on the ground,” Kabono lamented.
Despite admitting about 70 expectant mothers a month, the hospital’s maternity ward has only eight beds, forcing medical staff to mix patients with various treatment needs in a single room, she added.
"If we take you to our maternity ward, where we sometimes have total admissions of 71 in a month, you will see we only have an eight-bed capacity. What happens when we have about 12 to 16 admissions per day? Maternity wards receive patients every hour, and all health centres and clinics refer their cases to us.”
[email protected]
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