New era for dolled up Julia Molefhe
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Thursday April 30, 2015 16:12
The western half of the city is growing faster than the other cardinal points and has been for some years. Where land is either unavailable or where development is limited by geographic barriers in other parts, the west has seen rapid expansion as Gaborone has slowly eaten Kweneng District.
Servicing the healthcare needs of this growing population has largely fallen on the shoulders of one teenager, Julia Molefhe, a 16-year-old clinic in Block 9 named after an iconic nurse.
The clinic lies in the crosshairs of major western routes out of the capital being the highways of Kanye/Thamaga highway, Molepolole and Lobatse, and services patients from those villages and beyond. In recognition of its critical importance to the region, Julia Molefhe underwent a P1.9 million revamp between September 2013 and February 2014, which included infrastructural and hygiene enhancements as well as security upgrades to curb the theft of critical drugs such as Antiretrovirals.
The clinic was also outfitted with new software to enhance patient flow, such as a back-up generator, a computer-based patient information management system, an electronic queue management system and staff clocking system. Besides emergency services, Julia Molefhe offers preventative services, which include HIV and cervical cancer testing and awareness, TB and hypertension testing as well as immunisation and therapeutic services.
The clinic also boasts an emergency room that temporarily admits a maximum of six patients who can be cared for, for four hours under observations before determining if they can be discharged or referred to a hospital. At a recent kgotla ∆, members of the community serviced by the clinic praised public health authorities for the timely upgrade in the key health facility. Gaborone West residents say the refurbishment was a stitch in time.
“Before we had to queue for a long time for services, but now we know that when we need help, everything sails smoothly,” said one member of the community. “Even people from neighbouring villages such as Mogoditshane, Tsolamosese, Gabane and others are flocking to the clinic for medical attention.”
However, in a sign of the pressure Julia Molefhe is under to continually upgrade for the burgeoning population, many residents took the opportunity at the kgotla meeting to air their grievances about services at the facility. “I was very sad when I went to your clinic and wanted to do a pap smear,” said an old woman. “Instead, I was referred to Bontleng Clinic and when I got there, I was told that I could not be helped because the clinic only offered those services to young women. “I was very disappointed and angry. “I really wanted to do the test but I was denied a chance to do so without any solid reason. I wasted my money and time to go there only to come back without being helped.”
The woman said she decided to give up on the test and resigned herself to the possibility that any disease that went undetected due to the two clinics’ neglect, would be out of her hands. Another community member said she experienced similar challenges when she went to Julia Molefhe for cervical cancer tests. “I was tested two months and even now I am yet to receive the results,” she said. “My efforts to check the results on the dates I was given have been futile and I don’t believe I will ever get them. “Ke bone go le botoka go emisa go tobatoba kwa go senang nko e tswang lamina.”
Others called on the clinic to improve its ARV services, saying greater efforts could help early detection. Responding to the complaints at the kgotla meeting, Julia Molefhe Clinic regional nurse midwife, Orapetswe Makali explained that patients’ test results were often delayed because they were sent to the National Laboratory that caters for the whole country. “The results could take from three to nine months to be ready, because of this,” she said. Makali also explained that government has chosen Bontleng Clinic to conduct special cervical cancer tests, particularly for HIV positive women.
“Bontleng Clinic offers cervical cancer tests to HIV positive people. They have a way of checking that cancer and these services are given to both those on ARVs and those who have not started the therapy. “At Julia Molefhe, we focus on young women from as young as 12 years as we believe that these days girls start being sexual active at a very young age. We also test adults who are still in their menstrual cycle,” she said. The complexity of health issues, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the growing population mean the new dolled up Julia Molefhe has an even greater role to play going forward.