At least 11 health centres in Amuru district have closed due to delays by the National Medical Stores to deliver drugs and other medical supplies to the centers.
This has left hundreds of people in dire need of health services, as they keep flocking the facilities everyday seeking for non existing medication.
The situation has put the health needs of the population at risk at a time when they are resettling in their homes after years in the displaced people’s camps. Charles Okwera, the deputy District Health Officer of Amuru district says they are concerned about the continued delay that is spanning over five months in some of the health centers.
Okwera blames the change of the supply from one where the district used to place own orders to one now where the medical stores supply at their discretion. He explains that attempts by the district to seek explanation from the ministry of health and national medical stores have always received promises of drugs supply that never materialize.
The non-functional health facilities with no drugs include Apa, Otiji, Pacilo, Okici, Palukere, Omee, Otwee, and Amuru.
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However, the acute shortage of drugs at the health facilities is not the only dilemma the district health department is facing. Land conflicts among the communities neighboring some of the health centers are also responsible for the closure of some of the facilities.
Okwera explains that three health centers at Parabongo, Amuru and Otwee parishes also have complications relating to land wrangles between members of the communities and the district. He says that the community is demanding monetary compensation before they could allow the facilities to operate normally.
As a result, he said the district has embarked on a mission to acquire land titles for its entire institutions to avoid the wrangles.
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But as the drugs shortage and the land conflicts continue to bite, the health service delivery remains paralyzed. Okwera observes that the population that has been resettling in the community is greatly affected.
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Margaret Akello, a resident of Kaladima Kal village, Pagoro parish is among the people affected by the continued closures of the health centres. She explains that as a widow with two children diagnosed with sickle cell, she finds difficulty in traveling longer distances to access medication for her children. Akello says that the cost of travel is an addition to an already high cost of treating her children.
Despite traveling longer distances to the available health centers, Akello says that most times she is only provided with Folic acid and asked to meet the cost of buying other drugs like Penicillin tablets and Chloroquin.
It was not possible to get a response from the National Medial Stores over the reported delay to supply drugs to Amuru district. But the health facilities remain under padlocks with others surrounded by overgrown compound.
