Gulu health center spends four months without medicine
Pablo Health Center serves about 4000-5000 people in its catchment areas of Paminano, Coopee, Pugwinyi, and Owoo.
Gulu: Pablo Health Center III in Owoo sub-county Gulu district is hit with shortages of essential medicine since the National Medical Store (NMS) has gone four months without supplying the facility.
The facility received its last consignment from NMS in October 2023.
Rubangakene Stephen, the area councilor III for Pabwo Parish, told this publication that he recently visited the health facility for monitoring following the plea from the community, who claimed that they are persistently referred from the facility to go and buy the essential medicine from the private facility whenever they are diagnosed and prescribed medicine.
The monitoring team also established that at the maternity department, there is only Jik left, but most essential drugs such as folic acid and fansida that are usually given to pregnant mothers are out of stock.
Meanwhile, in the outpatient department, the medics are only diagnosing the patients and sending them to go and buy most of the essential medicine from the private clinics and drug shops.
In the ART clinic, which has a total enrolment of 460 clients, the clinic has run short of ARV drugs; hence, the medics are reportedly resorting to borrowing the ARV from neighboring facilities like TASO Gulu and Awach Health Centre IV.
Komakech Daniel, the in-charge of the facility, confirmed to this publication that they have resorted to borrowing most of the surplus from Health Centre IV and the general hospital that has been supplied recently.
The diseases that are being registered at Pabwoo Health Centre III are malaria and flu.
Pablo Health Center serves about 4000-5000 people in its catchment areas of Paminano, Coopee, Pugwinyi, and Owoo.
However, people in the Lamogi sub-county in Amuru district also seek medical assistance at Pabwoo due to its proximity.
The facility has 12 staff. Recently, the Gulu district health department reshuffled the health staff, where six personnel from Pabwo were transferred and six new staff were posted to Pabwo. However, it is reported that only four staff have reported to Pabwo for duty.
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