No Health Facility In Jamataka
Pini Bothoko | Monday December 5, 2016 15:35
Villagers travel long distances to seek medical attention going as far as Borolong village or Francistown, which are located 20km and 40km away respectively. This some times put their lives at risk, especially in cases of emergencies.
The unavailability of a health facility worries the village leadership, which is pleading with government to do something.
Jamataka’s Kgosi Mosalagae Galebonwe told The Monitor that for years, the residents have been struggling without a health facility, but the time has come for them to have constructed a health post just like in other villages in the country. He stated that they are currently being offered medical services by a mobile clinic, which visits them once a month.
“This village‘s population is around 800 now. Just imagine such a great number of people living without a health post. This worries me because we are living in an era where there is a rise of patients showing symptoms of non-communicable diseases,” Galebonwe said.
He said in this era where Botswana has new health challenges, there is a need for every village to have its own permanent health facility.
Galebonwe said a majority of his subjects are unemployed and hence live in abject poverty and are not conscious of their health status.
“We are struggling here because we seek medical assistance from as far as Borolong village. This has resulted in some patients losing hope and ending up staying home, more especially the ones with chronic ailments. This puts their health at risk,” Galebonwe said.
He stated that they incur transportation costs, which defeat government policy that patients are not supposed to travel distances to get medical assistance.
He said people who are on ARV treatment also worry him because they might end up defaulting just because they failed to obtain transport
money to get to Borolong clinic.
“We need a health post to cover for the ever-increasing population in the village. When the mobile clinic visits us, people are assisted in a small Kgotla office, where there is no privacy for patients to (freely) disclose their health problems,” Galebonwe said.
He added that being assisted where there is no privacy also encourages stigma amongst some patients.
The village councillor, Jerry Frenzel shared the same sentiments saying that it is time Jamataka is provided with a health post. He stated that residents are struggling without medical services and are unhappy that unlike other villagers, they do not own a health post.
“I reside at Makobo village and have frequently been woken up by people at night asking for transport assistance when having emergences.
The truth is, I am having sleepless nights because I often drive long distances to fetch patients from Jamataka to transport them to Borolong clinic or as far as Francistown at times,” Frenzel said.
Frenzel said he has long pleaded with government to provide a health post at council sessions, but to-date there is no proper answer.
Reached for comment the area Member of Parliament (MP) Fidelis Molao said he is aware of villagers’ concerns and conceded that indeed the people of Jamataka need a health post of their own as their population has increased.
When asked when will they be provided with a health post, Molao said, “I can only have answers after the finalisation of National Development Plan (NDP) 11 and District Development Plan (DDP) 8.”.