Shortage of drugs sent patients home
Patients at state medical facilities St Mary's Hospital at Rehoboth and Okombahe clinic claim to have been sent home without medicine or only supplied half of their prescriptions because of an 'unexplainable' shortage.
According to Lourencia /Hoebes of the Okombahe settlement in the Erongo Region, nurses at the settlement's state clinic told her mother, who is on hypertension medication, that the state no longer provides chronic medication for conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.
“They [patients] must now hand in their health passport with an additional N$70 so the nurses can get the medication from the private pharmacy in Omaruru. Those of us who do not have the money will just have to die,” complained
/Hoebes.
While she questions the price of the pills, /Hoebes also lamented this arrangement because the ambulance driver often forgets to pick up the parcels, which further puts the lives of patients at risk. There are also times when the pharmacy runs out of stock leaving patients to wait for weeks before they finally get their prescriptions, she told Namibian Sun.
“I do not know why they ask N$70, we understand the pills cost only about N$10 for a packet of 30. This basically means if you are a diabetic on hypertension treatment you must give N$140 or more of your state pension every month,” she said. According to an Omaruru-based pharmacy the most common hypertension pills bought by state patients is the amiloretic pill which costs about N$20 for 30 pills. The amiloretic tablet is a medicine used to treat fluid retention, blood pressure, hypertension, heart failure, edoema, low blood potassium levels and other conditions.
Meanwhile, a Rehoboth-based woman whose child was admitted with pneumonia at the St Mary's State Hospital last weekend was told to buy cough medicine from a private pharmacy, because the hospital does not have any in stock.
The nurses on duty could, however, not prescribe a specific medicine and told her to “look for something appropriate for the child's age”.
When she approached nursing staff for fever medication she was further told that “we cannot help you because the situation here is so chaotic”. The primary medical officer (PMO) of the hospital Dr Daylight Manyare declined to comment on the situation and referred questions to the health ministry's public relations department. While pointing out that the Okombahe clinic has sufficient medication in stock, health ministry spokesperson Ester Paulus told Namibian Sun that a tender issued to a private company for hypertension drugs, Amiloride was withdrawn.
“This particular medication is scarce and difficult to acquire from manufacturers. Alternative hypertension drugs are currently being provided,” she said.
She further added that the ministry needed to identify the patient at the Rehoboth St Mary's hospital to determine whether there is a shortage.
“Rehoboth state hospital does have all the necessary medication in stock. As requested earlier, please provide the name of the patient to allow us to provide you with accurate information on the treatment of the particular patient,” said Paulus.
JEMIMA BEUKES
According to Lourencia /Hoebes of the Okombahe settlement in the Erongo Region, nurses at the settlement's state clinic told her mother, who is on hypertension medication, that the state no longer provides chronic medication for conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.
“They [patients] must now hand in their health passport with an additional N$70 so the nurses can get the medication from the private pharmacy in Omaruru. Those of us who do not have the money will just have to die,” complained
/Hoebes.
While she questions the price of the pills, /Hoebes also lamented this arrangement because the ambulance driver often forgets to pick up the parcels, which further puts the lives of patients at risk. There are also times when the pharmacy runs out of stock leaving patients to wait for weeks before they finally get their prescriptions, she told Namibian Sun.
“I do not know why they ask N$70, we understand the pills cost only about N$10 for a packet of 30. This basically means if you are a diabetic on hypertension treatment you must give N$140 or more of your state pension every month,” she said. According to an Omaruru-based pharmacy the most common hypertension pills bought by state patients is the amiloretic pill which costs about N$20 for 30 pills. The amiloretic tablet is a medicine used to treat fluid retention, blood pressure, hypertension, heart failure, edoema, low blood potassium levels and other conditions.
Meanwhile, a Rehoboth-based woman whose child was admitted with pneumonia at the St Mary's State Hospital last weekend was told to buy cough medicine from a private pharmacy, because the hospital does not have any in stock.
The nurses on duty could, however, not prescribe a specific medicine and told her to “look for something appropriate for the child's age”.
When she approached nursing staff for fever medication she was further told that “we cannot help you because the situation here is so chaotic”. The primary medical officer (PMO) of the hospital Dr Daylight Manyare declined to comment on the situation and referred questions to the health ministry's public relations department. While pointing out that the Okombahe clinic has sufficient medication in stock, health ministry spokesperson Ester Paulus told Namibian Sun that a tender issued to a private company for hypertension drugs, Amiloride was withdrawn.
“This particular medication is scarce and difficult to acquire from manufacturers. Alternative hypertension drugs are currently being provided,” she said.
She further added that the ministry needed to identify the patient at the Rehoboth St Mary's hospital to determine whether there is a shortage.
“Rehoboth state hospital does have all the necessary medication in stock. As requested earlier, please provide the name of the patient to allow us to provide you with accurate information on the treatment of the particular patient,” said Paulus.
JEMIMA BEUKES
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