Hospital stores drugs in mortuary, MPs told

KIGALI - A highly revealing report by a parliamentary standing committee has unearthed shocking revelations on conditions in Kigali’s top three hospitals. A report by the Standing Committee on Social Affairs was unveiled yesterday by the chairperson of the committee, Spéciose Mukandutiye. It claims that Kibagabaga hospital, one of the major hospitals in Kigali City, store drugs in a mortuary, a revelation that alarmed members of the Chamber of Deputies. “The time we were compiling our report, we discovered that Kibagabaga hospital was storing medicine in the mortuary facility,” Mukandutiye told her stunned colleagues, several of whom insisted that the situation needed immediate intervention. The report also revealed that Kigali Central University Hospital (CHUK) stores medicine in a shipping container. King Faisal Hospital (KFH), the country’s top referral hospital, also features in the report, due to what the Mukandutiye described as “arrogant” behaviour by its management. She told the MPs that the hospital management turned down the committee members’ repeated requests to meet them. The committee members, Mukandutiye said, had visited KFH to find out why the hospital was not accepting transferred patients on Mutuelle de Sante health insurance scheme. “We had some queries that we needed to put to them but they deliberately refused to give us an opportunity to meet them,” said Mukandutiye. In his reaction, MP Theobald Mporanyi, wondered how the hospital administrators could undermine an entire parliamentary committee. “This is a clear indication of poor services. If they can do this to MPs, then how about patients and others in need of their services? Something should be done to stop this kind of attitude,” he said. The report also indicates that some of the country’s hospitals operate without running water and electricity. It also highlights the long distances patients have to travel to get to the nearest hospitals or health centres. “On average, Rwandans travel between two to five kilometres to reach the nearest health centre or hospital. But there are some who walk as far as 15 kilometres,” said Mukandutiye. As a follow-up to the findings, the Chamber of Deputies decided to summon the Minister of Health, Dr Richard Sezibera, to give explanations. Ends

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Hospital stores drugs in mortuary, MPs told