No oxygen to treat TB patient

2008-07-21 12:39

Port Elizabeth - A patient at the Jose Pearson Tuberculosis Hospital in Port Elizabeth died over the weekend, allegedly because there was no oxygen to treat her, the Herald reported on Monday.

The 19-year-old girl had been admitted after developing extreme drug-resistant TB. She died at around 11:00 on Saturday after apparently suffering an asthma attack in the high care ward, the report read.

Her name would be withheld until her family was informed.

Patients had reportedly expressed concerns about the oxygen supply for months, but nothing had been done about it.

"We raised this issue with the department of health through (provincial TB services director Miyakazi) Nokwe in the first stakeholder's meeting we had in February already, and nothing has been done about it," members of the patients forum were quoted as saying.

"All the department is interested in is building prisons and boosting security, but legitimate concerns about our health are simply overlooked."

Among the patients' main concerns about the high-care Bethelsdorp facility, which were raised at the February meeting, were problems with the oxygen supply, no bedside emergency call buzzers, and a broken generator.

Patients claimed that the hospital had been without oxygen since last Monday, that management had been alerted to the problem but had done nothing about it.

Provincial health department spokesperson Siyanda Manana denied this.

"It's not true that there is a shortage of oxygen. The patient did not die as a result of lack of oxygen. The reason for her death is personal and I cannot mention it."

- SAPA