CAN WE FIGHT MONKEYPOX

Sir,
The country continues to be threatened by the monkeypox (Mpox) disease, yet I doubt we have the capacity to fight this disease.
For the longest of time, we have been struggling with drugs shortage in hospitals and clinics, which puts us in a tight spot when it comes to the ability to sustain the health of the nation.
Between 2020 and 2022, Eswatini battled COVID-19 by putting up various infrastructure all over the country. Schools had hand washing sinks and government made sure that every school had water tanks.

Health

We had satellite health facilities, such as the one at Zakhele Community Hall and the National Psychiatric Centre, where people were tested and offered help. However, all these facilities were not maintained and they all faded away. The hand washing sinks in schools were blocked and vandalised, such that they stopped working. Hand washing points in communities were vandalised and tanks had their taps stolen from them. I also think some tanks were stolen. I do not know if we still have the beds and linen. All this, means that should Mpox, or any other pandemic strike, we will have to start afresh budgeting for these things. What if we do not have the luck of the sponsors who donated vast amounts of money during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Finance

This means we have to dig deep into the national purse to finance all the restoration of this infrastructure. Eventually, the health budget will consume the budget of other goods and services. This country will then be plunged into poverty again, all because of poor administration. We also cannot be certain that the COVID-19 is gone for good because from time-to-time people fall sick with symptoms of it.The number of people who were fully vaccinated against the disease is not even half the population.  Some vaccines had to be thrown away because maintaining them is very expensive, while the rate a which people are taking up vaccination is very low.Currently, I think no one is taking any vaccine, yet we have stocks of it in refrigerators. The country has also not accounted well for the funds use for COVID-19, which means some donors may hold back.

Help

Those willing to help the nation, despite the administration challenges, will want to go to the communities themselves. They will not give the resources to government structures that cannot guarantee accountability of funds. Moreover, two years after the COVID-19 pandemic, we are still battling payment of workers who worked tirelessly day and night. Recently, we saw them protesting that they are being owed allowances by government.All this shows how much we are ill-prepared to fight the emerging Mpox and other similar diseases. We need to be convincing that we will stand against Mpox, otherwise, as soon as we have a confirmed case, we will find ourselves trapped by the disease, without any means to fight it.

DD Mthupha


 

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