Malaria Kills 30 Children In Korle-Bu

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ASSERTIONS BY health experts that malaria kills faster than HIV and AIDS was given real meaning when it was revealed that 30 precious young lives are lost to the disease every month at the Children's Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.

HEALTH MATTERS was taken aback when the revelation was made by the Principal Nursing Officer in-charge of the Emergency Ward of the department, Madam Rebecca Armah, on Tuesday.

According to her, though malaria, caused by the tiny creature called mosquito was the major cause of deaths among these unfortunate children, severe anaemia and uncontrolled malnutrition also contributed a certain percentage of the deaths.

She attributed the high death rate to the delay in reporting cases to the hospital by family members.

“It is rather unfortunate to hear stories of mothers preferring to seek healing from prayer camps instead of the hospital. Most of the cases brought in here are emergency ones that have already developed complications,” she told HEALTH MATTERS.

She advised mothers to report any changes in the health of their wards to the hospital early enough to avert complications and unnecessary deaths.

The department, she said, records between 20 and 30 emergency cases on daily basis; a situation she noted creates a lot of inconvenience for both workers and patients because of the small size of the ward with only few beds.

“The issue of congestion here at the Children's Department is really a problem for us, considering the large numbers of patients who flood the department daily for medical attention.

“The problem becomes unbearable during peak periods when malarial cases are relatively high,” she stated.

One of the wards with 13 beds is currently admitting more than 40 patients, some of whom she said are forced to share single beds.

Professor Jennifer Welbeck, Head of the Child Health Department, also expressed worry at the situation, saying something urgently needed to be done to enable healthcare providers and patients work and receive quality healthcare in a more conducive atmosphere.

When contacted, Professor Nii Otu Nartey, Chief Executive Officer of Korle-Bu, gave the assurance that work on the department would commence soon.

He said measures were being taken to expand the department and provide new beds as a means of resolving the congestion situation.

By Grace Dartey