QECH crisis: Doctors, hospital staff contribute money to buy medicines for patients

The shortage of medicines at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre is so severe that medical staff are forced to contribute personal money to buy essential drugs for some seriously ill patients.

The collapse of health delivery at the referral hospital comes at a time government finds itself so broke that it cannot afford basic items such as toner and paper for printing.

At QECH, Dr Jane Mallewa, head of the Department of Medicine, is fearing for her critically ill patients because for some, the hospital cannot offer them any hope.

When Mallewa was receiving a donation of K500 000 (US$1 229) worth of essential drugs from OG Plastic Industries on Wednesday, it was a huge relief for the medical doctor who feels helpless at the scarcity of medicines.

“This donation is a big relief to our staff, who have been contributing some money to buy essential medicine like Fluconazole and amphotericin from private pharmacies for targeted patients in the wards. It pains us to watch our patients die from treatable ailments,” she said.

Mallewa said the situation has forced the hospital to use the staff contributions to focus on patients admitted to the referral facility.

She said out-patients in need of scarce drugs are turned away.

According to Mallewa, some of the most affected patients are those suffering from meningitis, hypertension and asthma.

“The Ministry of Health told us the drug shortage is as a result of the donor aid freeze. We just keep fingers crossed that the situation will get better,” she said.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health Henry Chimbali could not offer any assuring words that the situation at QECH will be resolved any time soon.

He referred Nation on Sunday to hospital director Andrew Gonani.

“Talk to the hospital’s director Dr Gonani, he will give you an insight on how such issues have been handled,” was all Chimbali could say.

Gonani pushed the matter to chief hospital administrator Themba Mhango who asked for a questionnaire which we sent to him on Friday.

But as we closed the day yesterday Mhango, had not yet responded to our questions.

Health service delivery has become the face of the problems the country is going through following donors’ decision to withhold aid in the wake of the Cashgate scandal.

By December 2013, most district hospitals were close to depleting their budget allocations for buying drugs, six months before the next budget.

The 2013/14 Mid-Year Report for the health sector indicated that by December 2013, district hospitals had spent K5.9 billion of the K9.9 billion allocated to district health offices (DHOs).

Minister of Health Catherine Gotani Hara told a joint mid-year review meeting of the health sector in March 2014 that the ministry had engaged Treasury on how to plug the funding gaps.

The situation is complicated by the uncertainty over aid resumption, meaning that things can only get worse for patients at QECH and other hospitals.