A nurse stands in the newly established Laboratory in Arua. PHOTO BY Clement Aluma
In Summary
Risk. Dr Jacinto Amundua, an official in the Ministry of Health says because patients are wrongly diagonised, they later develop complications, which could be fatal.
Arua. The commissioner for clinical services at the Ministry of Health, Dr Jacinto Amundua, has criticised medical personnel in West Nile for not carrying out thorough medical tests on patients to diagnose what they could be suffering from.
Dr Amandua was speaking during the launch of MBN clinical laboratories last Saturday in Anyafio in the outskirts of Arua Town.
“One of the problems we have is not carrying out investigations on patients. Many patients are referred to Kampala for very simple tests, which ought to have been done here,” Dr Amandua said.
He added that: “You find that before a patient sits down, the nurse is already injecting and the laboratory man is taking a blood sample before knowing the history of the patient.”
The laboratory, which will conduct tests in Hepatitis B, viral load, DNA paternity testing, cancer and hormone testing to diagnose infertility problems, is the first of its kind in the region and also acts as a research centre for various diseases.
Poor working conditions
A clinical officer from Arua District speaking on condition of anonymity agreed with Dr Amandua saying: “We are aware that it is a question of ethics but at the same time, we are not happy. We get little pay and the units have no drugs and equipment to conduct some of the tests. We also don’t have well equipped laboratories.”
The Ayivu County MP, Mr Bernard Atiku, said residents have been fleeced of colossal sums of money for poor services. “You find a clinic doing all kinds of tests but because patients are given the wrong diagnosis, they develop complications later.”
Dr Alfred Bwanga, the director of MBN laboratories, said the medical profession is being challenged daily by quack doctors who pretend to have qualified in medical practice.
Appeal to government
He appealed to the health personnel to cooperate and wipe out the pretenders who are tarnishing the image of the profession
THE BACKGROUND
Arua District has a referral hospital where most of the laboratory tests are done but specialised cases are referred mainly to Mulago hospital. The district has few private clinics where tests are done and many are concentrated within the town. Most of the Health centres in the district don’t carry out specialised tests but the new Laboratory (MBN) will test for diseases like liver failure, kidney problems, high cholesterol and full bloodwork. The labaratory will also work with both private and government hospitals as well as clinics.
editorial@ug.nationmedia.com
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