Health facilities are of great importance to the wellbeing of any country since good health is central to the happiness and progress of its citizens.
Good health is very important to economic progress, since healthy people live longer and are more productive.
That is why any incident in a health facility that disrupts the smooth running of that facility has negative implications for a country such as ours that is still struggling to ensure that the health facilities are fully equipped to cater properly for citizens.
Many were those who received the story surrounding the baby of Madam Swabia Abdul-Mumin, said to have been stillborn at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Ghana’s second largest hospital, with skepticism.
The body was said to have been picked by the cleaner, instead of a mortuary man and, according to the cleaner, he took it to the incinerator, where the body ‘disappeared’.
Not satisfied with the explanation given by the hospital, a group of angry youth, apparently related to Swabia, took the law into their own hands and decided to ‘teach the hospital staff a lesson’, by invading the maternity ward to visit mayhem on the health workers.
It is instructive to know that this happened at a time when the KATH authorities had ordered an investigation into the incident and handed over the cleaner to the law enforcement authorities for further investigations.
The Daily Graphic condemns in no uncertain terms the action of the youth who attacked the maternity ward, which has led to the closure of the facility. We urge the police to use those arrested to get to all those involved in this barbaric act and prosecute them, to serve as a lesson to any persons who may be contemplating similar actions because they are dissatisfied with an issue.
At the same time, we believe the circumstances surrounding the loss of the body of the baby, if indeed it was an issue of stillbirth, should be thoroughly investigated. How come that the body of the supposed dead baby was picked by the cleaner when he was not the one charged with the responsibility of disposing of the body? Is it true that dead babies are sometimes incinerated at the hospital?
Again, what happened to the body when he sent it to the incinerator, which, according to hospital authorities, had not been used since February 1, four clear days before the incident? These are questions that are begging for answers.
The Daily Graphic is of the view that until these questions are clearly answered, the suspicion of Swabia’s family and, indeed, some members of the public that the hospital authorities are up to some mischief will remain and cast a slur on the image of one of Ghana’s best medical facilities.
The KATH provides critical services which many health facilities in the region do not provide so the continued closure of the ward is bound to negatively affect health delivery.
We call on the Ministry of Health to act swiftly to restore normalcy to the KATH. The police should provide security to the health workers to assure them of their safety to enable the hospital authorities to reopen the ward and offer services to our mothers and sisters.
We also appeal to the doctors at the hospital, who at the time of going to press, had reportedly decided to withdraw their services, to rescind their decision and allow the law to take its course.
