Government has termed as ‘exaggerated and malicious’ reports that that Mulago Hospital loses 15 new born babies every day at its Kawempe branch.
Hon. Sarah Opendi, the Minister of state for Health, General Duties, said the withdrawal of Senior House Officers attached to recently closed Makerere University had not crippled medical services at Mulago hospital and the subordinate hospitals in the city divisions, leaving hundreds of patients stranded in wards as reported in the media.
“The Ministry of Health would like to strongly refute these allegations as baseless and a total misrepresentation of facts,” Hon. Opendi said in a statement seen by TheUgandan on Wednesday.
Following President Yoweri Museveni’s directive to close the country’s oldest university, hundreds of medical students and their lecturers at Makerere Medical School accordingly withdrew from Mulago Hospital, where they had been treating or handling patients as part of the medical studies.
“Since the withdrawal of Senior House Officers on Nov 1, 2016 to date, Mulago Hospital has unfortunately lost 31 newborns. These deaths were majorly as a result of severe birth asphyxia and complications associated with prematurity. Severe Asphyxia is largely caused by prolonged labour, which is a consequence of late referrals. According to this statistics, Mulago Hospital has lost approximately one newborn per day due to unavoidable circumstances,” part of the statement disclosed.
The medical students and their lecturers constituted a huge part of the medical staff strength at both Mulago and the subordinate hospitals of Kawempe, Kiruddu and other Kampala Capital City Authority health centres.
Mr Enock Kusasira, the Mulago hospital spokesperson, said more than 300 medical students under the category of Senior House Officers (SHO) who are qualified doctors and are post-graduate medical students together with more than 200 lecturers, withdrew from Mulago and the affiliated hospitals.
“Whereas the withdrawal of Senior House Officers has created some gaps, with a longer patient waiting time in the Out Patient Department, the process of healthcare delivery has not been significantly affected,” said the ministry.
Days after the closure of Makerere University, Education minister and First Lady Janet Museveni ordered the opening of the university’s College of Health Sciences to allow post-graduate medical students and consultants continue with their work.
However, the post-graduate medical students have insisted they would not return to the hospitals as they risk being attacked by other students.
They also accused government of exploitation and said it was a mockery for Ms Museveni to refer to them as human resource when they are not paid.
They said the minister’s directive is not calling them to study but to provide free labour.
“We have resolved not to return to the wards until the university is open because we are not different from other students,”Mr Solomon Kyazze, the president of the post-graduate medical students association, said.
An earlier meeting between the medical students and the Principal of the College of Health Sciences, Prof Charles Ibingira, who pleaded with the medical students to return to work, did not yield any fruit.
