South Sudanese frontline health workers in some states have raised concerns over the inadequate provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, while government officials say it is not true.
“We are expecting some of this equipment from the Ministry of Health but up to date, we have not received any supplies either from the State Ministry of Health or National Ministry of Health in Juba,” said Nyuma Sylvester, a Medical Director at the Nimule Civil Hospital, located in Nimule, on the border between South Sudan and Uganda. “What is available here is the mobile laboratory sent to Nimule hospital.”
Sylvester, however, said the facility expected supplies from the national health ministry in Juba before it opened testing samples of COVID-19 but they did not receive up to now.
The medical officer also cited lack of ventilators and oxygen concentrators in the hospital to manage patients who may develop difficulty in breathing.
“That is not true,” said Richard Lako, the COVID-19 Incident Manager in the Ministry of Health, said that the healthcare workers have adequate PPE from all the public health facilities.
“Let them say there are not enough. We have distributed all ten states and administrative areas with masks, gloves and all Personal Protection Equipment,” Lako said. “As I speak; the WHO is also distributing more of the protection supplies for emergencies.”
According to Nimule hospital’s medical director, they have recorded 9 health workers who tested positive for COVID-19 due to lack of PPE.
“Since, the establishment of a mobile laboratory at the border in June, Nimule has recorded more than 33 positive cases in which 9 cases are medical personnel due to exposure,” according to the official.
Mr. Lako told Radio Tamazuj in the same interview in September that over 80 health workers have tested positive since South Sudan recorded its first case of COVID-19.
“We had a total of 85 health workers who have been tested positive for COVID-19 across the country and unfortunately, one of them died in Juba recently but the rest recovered fully,” said Laku.
The Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States recommends that “Personal protective equipment (PPE) is used every day by healthcare personnel (HCP) to protect them, patients, and others when providing care.”
A medical director of Rumbek state hospital, Barnaba Bol Amukpiu, said there is no COVID-19 personal protective equipment that has been provided to their frontline health workers in Lakes State since the country recorded its first case on April 5.
"I tried to raise a lot of challenges facing frontline health workers in the fight of the disease,” Amukpiu said. “But there are no positive outcomes like to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) such as overalls, gloves, gumboots for the frontline doctors in the hospital."
Amukpiu said after his lengthy discussion with the state task force, the committee for coronavirus accepted to provide facemask to frontline doctors in Rumbek state hospital but those were not enough.
“PPE includes gloves, medical masks, goggles or a face shield, and gowns,” according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The health official appeals to the donors and government of South Sudan High-Level Task Force of COVID-19 to provide most needed personal protective equipment to the frontline doctors in the State.
In Warrap State, the medical director for Kuajok state Hospital, Dr. Gong Dut, says sets of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for COVID-19 pandemic were adequately supplied to the hospital by health partners.
“Recently we have also received but I do not know the number how many, but previously we received 11 sets of PPE, some of these are with me in the office and we have some in the facility called Mayen Gumel,” he said.
According to Dut, some of the Personal Protective Equipment that was supplied include overall, gloves, masks, machines for testing temperature and others.
According to the World Health Organization WHO, masks used to reduce potential exposure from someone who is sick and contagious, even if they do not have symptoms.
Wol Wol, the Director for Aweil Civil Hospital in Northern Bahr el Ghazal, also said there have been no new provisions of PPE granted to the hospital staff to help them protect against Coronavirus.
“What we did was intensive training and awareness was carried out so that any medical personnel may know how to protect him/herself against the virus.”
He, however, said few face masks, gumboots and gloves which were provided since COVID-19 started were not enough but right now, the few masks available are being issued to only three health workers on duties at routine base.
“Masks should be used as part of a comprehensive strategy of measures to suppress transmission and save lives; the use of a mask alone is not sufficient to provide an adequate level of protection against COVID-19,” WHO has recommended.
The hospital’s medical director in Torit Main Hospital, Dr. Isaac John also expressed lack of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) in the state main hospital but called for health partners to intervene.
“We got a few but now there is a shortage. Some few weeks ago it was brought but in the isolation ward,” Isaac John said. “It is really a problem but we can only just talk to our partners to help us.”
Lako, the Covid-19 incident manager for South Sudan, said they cannot give the protective equipment to the private health care because they have not fulfilled necessary requirements set by the national ministry of health in coordination with the COVID-19 High-Level Task Force.
“We cannot give protection to our health workers and the same workers go in the evening and work in the private clinics while saying, there is no protection,” Lako said. “This is so risky.”
Earlier this month in an interview with Radio Tamazuj about delays in Covid-19 testing, Philip Anyang Ngong, the South Sudanese Human Right Advocate cautioned the Ministry of Health for being inefficient despite the donations coming from foreign and humanitarian agencies in response to COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
“The ministry of health has become very inefficient for reasons that we don't know. Chinese and Egyptians have given us materials; we have had enough money from agencies to support the centres but if there is still inefficiency up to now after 6 to 7 months down the line then where was the money for COVID-19 going? Where is the facility going? If they are there, what is happening,” Ngong said. “The ministry of health should be questioned.”
While in Jonglei State, the medical director of Bor Main hospital, Bol Cham said the protective gears were supplied in late August by the WHO.
“A challenge we have at our hospital, our health workers do not want to use PPE and get tested for the COVID-19, which is raising the wrong impressions among the locals,” he said.
He, however, said the protective gears they received are not enough as healthcare workers outside the hospital are not equipped with PPEs to handle any suspected cases.
The official appealed for training to the health workers on benefits and use of COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment.
“COVID-19 may not go so soon,” Cham said. “The local health workers should be well equipped so that the mass population can adapt to live with the virus.”