Jinja Hospital registering increase in gunshot wound, stab injuries

Jinja, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Jinja Hospital is reporting an increase in gunshot and stab injuries. This was revealed by Dr Angella Namala, the hospital Deputy Director during a virtual meeting held by the Makerere University School of Public Health on Wednesday.

Namala notes that their causality ward has had a huge reduction in road traffic accident victims and has now been replaced with those nursing gunshot and stab injuries. She said the victims have very deep injuries and are usually dropped at the hospital by the police.

Dr Livingstone Makanga an official from the Ministry of Health acknowledged that reports of such injuries are increasingly being reported during the lockdown partly arising from an increase in domestic violence and enforcement of presidential directives by security operatives.

He noted though that these cases have not yet been evaluated to see how widespread they are, revealing that they are engaging security agencies with concerns of them failing to translate presidential directives and where possible to relax some of the restrictions put in place.

According to Makanga, the lack of proper guidance and interpretation of the directives has made some especially pregnant women fear to seek services in this time leading to complications during and after birth.

Namala notes that at Jinja hospital, caesarean section deliveries have increased to 50 percent from 30 percent. They have also recorded an increase in premature deliveries and near misses with cases of ruptured uterus becoming common.

She also notes that inpatient turn up at the hospital has reduced by 50 percent whereas that of the outpatients has reduced by 65 percent. Currently, there are three COVID-19 positive patients admitted in their isolation centre, which has been set up at the Mental Health Unit.

Namala says that the reduction in other cases at the hospital could be as a result of fear considering that initially medical workers too had fled the facility.

She reports that now, complacency on the side of health workers has set in too where only 40% of them are respecting the hand washing guidelines.

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