The Director General at the Wau Teaching Hospital in Western Bahr el Ghazal State has said the facility will from next month start charging patients fees for treatment.
According to Dr. Thon Mangok, the move come after the Health Pool Fund (HPF) which has been supporting the hospital announced that it was stopping support to the health facility in March.
“All this information is true. In March, Health Pool Fund, the big donor, announced that they were pulling out of Wau Teaching Hospital, which means the hospital will remain without support. We thank them (HPF) because they have supported us for a long time,” Dr. Thon said.
“We have discussed our strategy as a hospital and came up with ideas. We sat with the council which represents the citizens of Wau and came up with the idea that let the hospital not close but let the patients pay a little amount,” he added.
According to Dr. Thon, the idea was borrowed from Juba Teaching Hospital where patients pay for treatment.
“Juba Hospital has the same system as they do not have any organization supporting them with incentives. So, we decided to take something from the citizens and return it to them in terms of services,” he said. “We have decided on the idea but it has not yet been implemented. The information you heard is true but still not implemented.”
The hospital director said the payment from the patients will be used to pay incentives for the workers at the health facility and also for electricity and water supply.
He said the payments will be made at the entrance gate, registration table, doctor’s consultations, and for laboratory and maternity services.
Reacting to the news, some citizens in Wau town told Radio Tamazuj that the move is detrimental to them because they are poor.
Moses David said a lot of poor patients who cannot even afford food come to the hospital from rural areas and will not be able to afford to pay for treatment.
“This will have an impact on the local people because not everybody will be able to pay the fees they will require and we do not know how much will be paid,” he lamented. “If they are going to require payment, it will be a big problem because it is clear that civil servants do not get their salaries and they are not able to pay for treatment.”
David called on the government and Wau Teaching Hospital to reverse the decision but to charge patients.
Another Wau resident, Lavin Gasim, said the decision would affect the citizens because most people do not have jobs.
“It will affect people because some people do not have jobs. If you are sick and come without money, how will you enter to visit a doctor for treatment?” Gasim asked.
Meanwhile, the coordinator of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) in Western Bahr el Ghazal State, Stephen Robo Musa, said it was the responsibility of the government to ensure that citizens receive medical treatment.
“We are aware of the challenges Wau Hospital and the state health ministry are going through after the announcement of an end of the Health Pool Fund beginning from the end of July and this will return the responsibility of the hospital to the hands of the state and national governments who should take care of its citizens coming to the hospital,” he said.
According to Robo, the decision to charge patients at the hospital was to ensure the facility keeps operating but it is the responsibility of the government to offer free medical services to its citizens. He said all the revenue collected in the state should go directly to the hospital to keep it operational.