By Abdelkarim Jaiteh
Nocommunicable diseases such as diabetics, hypertension and chronic chest infection are on the rise in the country, health officials at Bundung Maternal and Child Hospital and Serekunda General Hospital has told this medium during an interview to assess the state of affairs at hospitals.
At Bundung hospital the Chief Executive Officer, Kebba Manneh and heads of various units said the challenges and the rate of admission at this time of the year on the rise.
The common illness according to them varies from communicable and non-communicable diseases depending on the rate of patients they received on daily basis.
According to the officials, the greatest challenges they are facing is the lack of nurses and doctors which they said is undermining their work compare to the high rate of patient they received on daily basis.
Meanwhile, the officials have also raised concern over the high rate of hypertension and high blood which according to them is the highest rate of illness at this time of the year compare to the rate of malaria cases before which has now reduced significantly.
Stephanie Awa Mendy Sylva, junior registrar department of Obstetrics and Gynecology explained the significant achievement and challenges confronting the unit, such as lack of space for admission of patients.
Kebba Manneh, Chief Executive Officer also explained the current situation of the hospital an outlined some of the areas that need intervention in order to deliver better health service to the public.
CEO Manneh also appealed to donors and philanthropists for help in order to improve the standard of the hospital to deliver better service to the general public.
From Bundung, we proceeded to Serekunda General Hospital at Kanifing where we caught up with the CEO of the hospital, Kebba Manneh who also raised similar challenges confronting the hospital as well as the rate of admission and the common illness at this time of the year.
“Human resources such as staffs, consultants and equipment at the laboratory and XTRAY machines as well as mobility are among the greatest challenges confronting the hospital,” he said.
He noted that there is a need for urgent intervention in order to deliver quality health service to the public.
The officials have also advised the public to be cautious of their diets and also to do daily exercise to fight against these diseases.