A Doctor attending to a mother at the new maternity ward in Yambio. [Gurtong | Joseph Nashion]
By Joseph Nashion
YAMBIO, 14 October 2012 [Gurtong] – The State Minister of Health Dr John Gbono congratulated MSF Spain and all the health service providers at Yambio Civil Hospital adding that the ministry understands the conditions at the hospital and it is working towards improving services.
He acknowledged the challenges at the hospital but promised to address some of them with the help from various international organisations working in the state.
MSF Spain has improved on the mortality cases in Western Equatoria State and now women are able to have free safe deliveries.
The hospital now has a better maternity ward for safe deliveries and MSF Spain plans to increase on the number of nurses and clinical officers for effective service delivery at the hospital.
Gbono urged the community to appreciate the little services provided at the hospital.
Services at Yambio Civil Hospital are badly affected due to a shortage of staff. Some organisations like MSF Spain have stepped up their support to the hospital in departments of Maternity and Paediatric.
The hospital has only one ambulance but they lack a full time driver to cover the whole state given the poor road network.
Most problems are beyond the mandate of the state Ministry of Health but should be covered by the national ministry since at the state they are not allowed to order their supplies but only make use of what is supplied from Juba.
Some of the challenges are because of the financial difficulties currently facing the country during the austerity budget but there is hope of improvement in the future.
In a related development, the state Ministry of health received a number of items from the Management Service for Health (MSH).
The items include three desktop computers, three laptop, furniture, mattresses, refrigerators, camera and mobile phones.