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The sick hospital at Agenebode

Written by Friday Olokor Last update 05-06-2011

It may sound like a fairy tale but the truth is that in some hospitals in Nigeria, doctors still perform surgery with torchlight. This is the situation at the General Hospital in Agenebode, headquatres of Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State.

If there is anybody who should glorify God, it is Mrs. Mary Alugbe, who was being operated upon without electricity by the Chief Medical Officer in charge of the hospital, Dr. Monday Obawonyi,when our correspondent visited the hospital recently.

There was no air-conditioner and as such, Obawonyi was sweating profusely. But ironically, according to him, the Chairman of the Local Government Council, Mr. Stanley Odidi, had a surgical operation in the hospital in 2006 with his generator.

“His mother, nephew, sister and some other rich people were admitted here,” he stated emphatically. But what help has the rich ones who were beneficiaries extended to the hospital?

Obawonyi said, ”When they need help, they come to us but when we need them, they reject us.”

Several calls and a text message to the chairman – who incidentally hails from Agenebode – for comment were not responded to. While Alugbe was lucky, it was a different tale for an unidentified baby who was said to have died because there was no electricity.

Indeed, the Agenebode Hospital, from observation, fell short of what should be expected in consulting clinics because of the problem which have affected it since its establishment by a former military governor of the defunct Bendel State in 1975, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia.

The Matron of the hospital, Mrs. Roseline Omoudu, succinctly summed up the problems in these words: ”We have so many problems; our foams are bad, there are no pillows but we have bed sheets. As you can see now, the doctor is already operating on a patient in the theatre without light. Our generator has been so bad for the past many months. Out of three days, you will only get light in a day or two.”

Due to the epileptic supply of electricity, it was learnt that the mortuary has packed up for many years. It was learnt that the hospital records a high traffic of patients and has for long remained the busiest in the Fugar medical zone.

What reason account for this? The matron attributed the development to high incidence of malaria which is the major disease saying, ”The prevalent disease is malaria. The River Niger is very close and we have a lot of mosquitoes here.”

The problem has been compounded by the shortage of staff. With only two doctors and six nurses from where they run shifts, Omoudu said she has not gone on leave for a very long time.

”As you can see me now, I am alone on duty. We have 13 patients, 7 patients in male ward and in the maternity ward, there are still patients there. If there is any patient on labour, I will immediately leave here to go and attend to the patient. In a standard hospital like this, we need at least, 14 nurses and six doctors,” she stated.

A 19-year old patient who is recuperating, Miss Louisa Enaboakpe, said she was lucky because a good Samaritan provided a generator to illuminate the theatre. Our correspondent however saw that a project is on to put the place in order.

Observers are however shocked at the development given the array of political heavyweights and personages which Agenebode parades. Some say it is a case of petty politics.

However, there has not been any recorded casualty because of electricity failures due to the efficiency of Obawonyi. When our correspondent sought to know the grave consequences of embarking on such adventures, the matron said, ”Our doctor is experienced and knows what to do at the right time. If there is a major case, we normally tell the relations to look for a generator to use for that patient.”

But another medical officer, Dr. Osahon Ediaghe, said, “During the day, you can manage to operate a patient without electricity. It is like rural medicine but at night, there is nothing you can do about it. Sometimes, we do surgeries with torchlight but there are some you cannot attempt with torchlight. Nowadays the mistake of forgetting instruments on patients is rare because you count instruments before surgery and you count after surgery. The absence of light could lead you to not seeing very well. For instance, there could be vessels in the abdomen that are bleeding and you may not see very well and this could result to death later.”

But the Edo State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Moses Momoh, assured that renovation work is currently going on.

He said, “You can see that we are sinking boreholes and we intend to fix a dependable generator there to guarantee constant supply of electricity. We are also giving the hospital perimeter fencing. As regards the mortuary services, what we offer is dry services. This means that all corpses coming into the place must have been embalmed. We are doing all these things in phases because of the neglect to which infrastructural development has been subjected for the past 20 years as in education.”

It was also learnt that the only x-ray machine in the hospital has never functioned since its installation in 1975. Sources in the hospital disclosed that whenever there is an emergency, the only hope is the Auchi Central Hospital which is some kilometers from Agenebode. The hospital’s Laboratory Technologist, Mr. Peter Obidah, said in administering most tests, he embarks on skeletal services and take others he could not do to somewhere else. ”We do malaria parasite test; we have no haematic centrifuge; but there is no fridge to store blood”, he stated.

Reacting to the development, the Okumagbe of Weppa Wanno Kingdom, Dr. George Egabor, said, “I understand that they need beds and mattresses, laboratory facilities are not in good order; there is no generator; there is always total darkness at night if there is power failure. Government’s attention is therefore needed.”

Expectedly, the Weppa Wanno Pyramid Club of Nigeria has taken the matter to Governor Adams Oshiomhole. In a letter dated April 8, titled: “Pitiable State of the General Hospital at Agenebode signed by the President, Alhaji Kennedy Izuagbe; and Secretary General, Mr. Ayegb
eni Kanabe, the organisation recalled how a baby was lost due to lack of electricity and operating theatre.”

Source:Punch

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