The Week's Newspaper
| Baby dies after hospital turns away penniless mother |
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| Written by Rinelda Mouton | |||
| Wednesday, 02 November 2011 22:39 | |||
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A five month old baby girl died last Saturday after her mother was shown the door of Katutura State Hospital as she did not have money to pay for medical consultation and treatment. Marisa Goreses told Informanté that little Annakieta suddenly fell ill last week Thursday. She says that the baby had diarrhoea, high fever and was crying a lot. “I took my baby to Hakahana Clinic where she got medication and the doctor told me that if the baby does not feel better I must bring her back for treatment,” the devastated mother explains. However, when Annakieta’s condition worsened and became very weak, the mother decided to take her to Katutura State Hospital. “When I got at the reception the lady who was working there told me that she cannot allow my baby to see the doctor if I don’t pay the required fee for treatment,” Goreses said. The penniless mother had no other choice but to leave without receiving help. Annakieta died silently in her mother’s arms in a taxi on the way home. “It was the saddest day of my life when the police had to come and take my baby’s body from me. I cannot believe that my beautiful princess is no longer with me and I will never ever see or hold her again,” Goreses said with tears in her eyes. The young mother demands from the government to do something about this since she is convinced that her baby would still be alive had she only received medical attention. “I am fed up, fed up with our government, they claim to help the poor people of the country, but a child cannot even get treatment for free at a state hospital when it’s sick and when the parents don’t have money,” Annakieta’s aunty (name known to Informanté) said angrily. Dr. Mwadina Shiweda, the Acting Chief Medical Officer at Katutura State Hospital, said that she is not aware of the incident as nothing was reported to her. She further stated that the allegations “cannot be true” because the hospital would by law not be allowed to turn away people who seek treatment.
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