Politics and Society
Ugandan hospital suspends three nurses over Besigye visit
Administrators at Abim Hospital last week suspended three nurses over allegations of revealing the poor state of the health facility on television during opposition candidate Kizza Besigye’s tour. The nurses are being investigated for talking to the press about hospital issues without authorisation
Uganda’s Abim Hospital administrators last week suspended three nurses over allegations of revealing the poor state of the health facility on television.
The nurses, Paska Akello, Santina Adong and Immaculate Owili were suspended for divulging “unauthorised information”, when they took opposition candidate Kizza Besigye on a tour of the hospital in Karamoja, the Africa Review reported.
In an letter published by the BBC, one of the nurses, Adong Santina who walked Dr Besigye, was informed that she would be disciplined for revealing the information.
Opposition candidate Kizza Besigye Photo: Al Jazeera
According to the BBC, Santina told Dr Besigye, that the hospital was operating without a qualified doctor for two years.
The nurses are also being investigated for talking to the press about hospital issues without authorisation, the Africa Review reported.
Despite implementing a number of health sector reforms, Uganda’s healthcare sector still faces numerous challenges related to infrastructure development, equipment, recruitment and retention of qualified staff. According to statistics, the doctor to patient ratio stands at 1:15,000, way below the recommended World Health Organisation ratio of 1:10,000 for Africa.
The country’s health status indices remain poor and are among the lowest across the world.
Source: Africa Review
