By Kefiloe Kajane
Lesotho’s nurses say they have noted with concern the unpreparedness and failure of the national authorities to mount clear, comprehensive and systematic strategies against Covid-19, which renders the country highly vulnerable to the pandemic which has claimed close to 400,000 lives worldwide.
Lesotho Nurses Association (LNA) secretary general ‘Mamonica Mokhesi says they are particularly concerned that, despite efforts that government has put in place since the advent of Covid-19, general unpreparedness is still evident and is compounded by dilapidated infrastructure, disorganizations of the national healthcare system and insufficient empathic leadership.
Mokhesi noted that the efforts of government have from their inception always been characterised by controversy, ranging from procurement processes to mysterious disappearances of personal protective equipment (PPE) received from philanthropic bodies both locally and abroad.
“We are very concerned that while there are no measures previously applied to hold those responsible for the mysterious disappearances of PPE accountable, it disturbingly cannot be asserted that Covid-19 has not only almost brought this nation to its knees but also exposed our political leadership`s ignorance in appreciating the magnitude of medical predicaments and prevention responsibilities; this particular scourge has imposed on healthcare workers and professionals.
“We are also disturbed that Lesotho does not have a responsive institutional mechanisms and does not show concerted efforts to protect healthcare workers and professionals’ rights. Neither does the county denote provisions for efficient delivery of quality health services at local communities, sub-national and national levels, nor is there a commitment among senior health ministry technocrats and decision makers, to improve working conditions and strengthen correlation of the health systems in place, at all different spheres of our social life,” she observed.
Mokhesi went on to say that the organisation had embarked on a countrywide study to see the preparedness of clinics on the Covid19 virus, and that their findings vehemently denote that efforts taken by the government are not commensurate to the threat posed by the pandemic.
She regretted that health centres in Lesotho are largely not sufficiently equipped to combat the novel corona virus in terms, as evidenced by inadequate (PPE), absence of some facilities and amenities, lack of responsiveness of district emergency command centres and deplorable working conditions for healthcare workers and professionals who are at the forefront of this war against the deadly disease.
“Most worrying, is the inadequate supply of PPE in many health centers and complete lack thereof in others. This PPE includes gowns, overall suits, face shields, surgical masks and N95 masks, sanitizers and in fared thermometers. This PPE is of paramount significance in that it is utilized largely to minimize prospects of cross-infection in the process of uncovering a suspect and to protect the healthcare workers from possible infection and ultimately, the nation at large as most of the nurses serve a large number of Basotho in their designated catchment areas. For the majority of health centres supervised by Partners in Health organisation, there is PPE in limited quantities while in others there is absolutely none.
“Moreover, approximately 70 percent of the health centres visited lacked the necessary facilities and amenities to handle possible suspects. Most of the centers do not have appropriate apparatuses/ facilities for efficient screening and subsequent isolation of the identified suspects. Notwithstanding that, a majority of primary health centres in the country have no adequate running water supply, others depend on rainwater harvesting through use of buckets. They have inefficient electricity and heating systems as their electricity is only limited to lighting and cell phone charging hence heating system in the absence of gas heaters is a serious challenge.
“Due to procurement of amenities like heaters and gas cylinders being highly centralized under District Health Management Teams (DHMTs), the healthcare workers/professionals’ working conditions have insurmountable woes which are particularly typical to clinics located in hard to reach communities. Here transportation of vaccines for infants are still critical challenges confronting majority of clinics in the country. This predicament is compounded by DHMTs poor attitude, salt in an open wound of grievances already endured by these hard to reach areas,” Mokhesi added.
Her sentiments were echoed by LNA public relations officer, Busa Qhala, who regretted that it has been accepted as the order of the day in the nursing fraternity that nurses who demand respect for their rights are either dismissed from work through trumped up charges or are unjustly transferred to hard-to-reach posts.
Qhala questioned the fact that, despite nurses often going beyond the call of duty which sometimes exposes them to fatal risks including attending to Covid-19 suspects within the villages without proper PPE, they have no risk allowances.
“The delayed disbursement of salaries to healthcare workers has become a common occurrence in some health facilities, particularly those owned by the Christian Health Association of Lesotho (CHAL). This is caused by the fact that government delays to disburse subventions to facilities owned by CHAL, leading to delayed salaries, which impinges negatively on the livelihoods of healthcare workers.
“We are pleading with the ministry of health to attend to us as soon possible so that nurses can help Basotho fight Covid19.”
