Minister Baryomunsi’s survival is an eye-opener 

The collapse of Chris Baryomunsi, minister of ICT and National Guidance, during a work visit to his Kinkiizi East constituency is a wake-up call.

While we wish him a quick recovery, his illness exposed the hopeless state of Uganda’s public referral hospitals. When the minister collapsed, he was rushed to Kambuga hospital in Kanungu district but was quickly referred to Kampala for specialized treatment. Why? The facility is sick too.

The operating theatres are broken down. There are no emergency services. The doctor and other medical workers choose when to work. Kambuga hospital was built in 1965 as a referral hospital to serve the neighbouring districts. It is supposed to have various specialized medical workers. Elsewhere, hospitals in Kayunga, Kawolo, Mbale, Kiboga, and Masindi are pathetic too.

The minister was lucky to be airlifted to Mulago hospital. How many ordinary citizens can afford that? We would like to assume that many people have died or have suffered permanent deformities because they failed to access appropriate medical care in Kanungu district and its neighbours.

So, why is the general welfare of ordinary people subsumed beneath the interests of the very powerful? Baryomunsi must be saved, but an ordinary person in Kanungu who wants to deliver a child is left to her own devices!

Why is it so difficult to equip these hospitals with first aid tools, yet it’s so easy to find a plane and money to fly out a dying dignitary? Does the right to health solely belong to the very important people?

In 2012, Malawian president Muthariaka wa Bingu suffered a cardiac arrest and died in an ignored countryside hospital in Bulawayo. The hospital did not have resuscitating machines. Even the cold rooms for preserving the bodies were nonfunctional.

His body was flown to South Africa to be preserved as the country prepared to receive the news of his death. A story is also told of when the then minister of Health, Gen Jim Muhwezi, toured upcountry hospitals.

The then superintendent of Mbale hospital decided to give the minister a rude awakening. The senior official decided to receive the minister in the dilapidated operating theatre. The minister was shocked to stand in the dilapidated theatre with a caved-in ceiling.

The senior medical official told the minister that if he had had an accident on his way to the hospital, he would have received emergency treatment in that rundown theatre. Shocked, Muhwezi made sure money was released to rebuild the theatre.

Health should be treated as a security issue. Security claims to preserve the life and safety of citizens. But how else can one keep alive if hospitals are not working? It is not so expensive to maintain a hospital.

All hospitals should have a detailed disaster plan that includes the following: what areas to expand and in what order (for instance, recovery room, ambulatory area), how to increase care for incoming patients.

The ministry of Health should recruit staff for all upcountry public hospitals. Ugandans are always urged to be patriotic, but Uganda must be lovable too.