The Conflict in Bawku which appears to be extending beyond the immediate environs of the area is said to be taking a huge toll on health care delivery at the Zebila government hospital in the Bawku West District of the Upper East Region.
Apart from ballooning the number of people expected to be catered for and putting pressure on the few staff and resources, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Zebila Hospital is feeling the brunt of the conflict as they struggle to meet the health needs of newborn babies with various complications.
In an interview with Dreamz News, the NICU Manager of the Hospital, Christopher Nambileeb Saganma, decried the unavailability of sufficient space to accommodate babies brought to the facility.
Though they are often overwhelmed due to the high number of cases referred to the facility daily, the major challenge is the lack of sufficient space and necessary working tools and machines to take care of the children brought to the facility.
This Mr. Nambileeb, explained has forced them to house both term babies and pre-term babies in the same room, which ideally should not be the case.
The conflict in Bawku has negatively affected the operations of the Bawku Presbyterian Specialist Hospital and virtually made the Zebila Hospital, the referral center for the six administrative districts in the eastern part of the region.
It has also made it difficult for routine health activities since pregnant women no longer feel too safe to visit nearby facilities such as health centers, CHPS Compounds, and clinics for fear of possible attacks thereby, leading to various complications.
It is on this score that the NICU Manager of the hospital is appealing for support to be able to deal with the pressure and save lives especially that of newborn babies.
He added that pre-term deaths at the facility are on the rise and this is further compounded by a not-too-robust referral system.
“We have a lot of challenges because of the issues at the eastern side. We are having an overflow of admissions all the time. We need incubators; warmers especially space to accommodate the ballooning figures. If we can get support to be able to put up a structure, it will help us.
The Bawku conflict has resulted in the Zebila Hospital serving six districts and the admissions are always coming and that compels us to refer many of the cases which occasionally leads to complications because of the not too robust referral system.” He cried out for help.
