The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Mukono, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Center for Health, Human Rights and Development-CEHURD, a non-government organization fighting for social justice, has started investigating a case involving a baby that was allegedly thrown in a placenta pit in Mukono.
The organization has written to the management of Mukono General Hospital following a complaint raised by Rose Baisi, a resident at Kigombya village in Mukono district who says that although she had given birth to twins, the health workers at the facility presented only one child to her, with no explanation of what had happened to the second child.
Baiti used scan images that were taken earlier to prove that she was expecting two babies and not one. But moments after the complaint, health workers at the hospital gave her a stillborn and told her that the baby had been mistakenly thrown in a placenta pit.
The pit, according to Ministry of Health protocols, is supposed to be used as a disposal site for placentas or remains of aborted foetuses or miscarried babies that had not properly developed. According to the protocols, stillborn babies are handed over to parents for decent burial and not dumped into the placenta pit.
Now Esther Kamede, a Programs Associate with CEHURD notes that there are many unanswered questions surrounding the explanation given to the family by the medical team at Mukono General Hospital.
“We note that the complaint raises serious violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms granted in the constitution of the Republic of Uganda, which the hospital or its legal agents ought to have respected and promoted. The said violation calls for legal actions against your institutions.” the letter reads.
CEHURD Programs Officer Gloria Laker notes that they want Mukono General Hospital to come up with a system for handling mothers at the facility.
Mukono Municipality Medical Director Dr Anthony Kkonde notes that the hospital will give a formal explanation about the matter but also investigations can still be done for justice to prevail since the hospital also has CCTV cameras to expose what may have happened on the day.
*******
URN
