Zimbabwe’s major referral hospital suspends most surgical operations due to drug shortage reports News Day.
Critical hospital departments in Harare Central Hospital such as maternity, CEPOD emergencies and Intensive Care Unit (ICU), have been spared as the hospital attempts to restock the serious shortage of essential drugs such as morphine, pethidine, antibiotics and even bicarbonate soda among others.
“Due to the critical shortages of pethidine, injectable morphine, fentanyl, adrenaline, sizes 3.0, 3.5, 4.5, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5 ETT, metoclopramide, sodium bicarbonate and antibiotics, it was decided after consultation with the Clinical Director, Heads of Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Consultant Anaesthetics that we suspend all elective surgeries for the time being,” said the memorandum from HOD Anaesthetics, a Dr HN Chifamba, dated September 16 2016
The hospital will also train nurses in the wards on the use of morphine and tramadol injection for post-operative pain. These (morphine and tramadol) are going to be the backbone of post-operative pain management henceforth, further said the statement.
The drug stock will be reviewed in the middle of next week as the administration, finance department and pharmacy are making frantic efforts to restock the pharmacy according to the hospital.
Patients will have to make-do with private hospitals at the moment, leaving thousands of people (mostly poor) desperate since most Zimbabweans cannot afford private hospitals due to high costs.
Harare hospital is one of the only three central hospitals that the Southern African nation has to serve more than 13 million people according to New Zimbabwe. The report further states that the public health sector in the county is facing serious challenges such as limited infrastructure, continuous drug stock depletion, poorly paid workforce due to financial constraints and bad governance.
