Maputo, 6 Mar (AIM) – The Mozambican Health Minister, Ussene Isse, on Wednesday announced the creation of a commission of enquiry to investigate the disappearance of newborns in the maternity ward and the mistreatment of patients in Matola Provincial Hospital (HPM).
According to the minister, who was speaking during a working visit to HPM, where he monitored the work carried out by health professionals, the commission of enquiry will investigate and monitor the way that this hospital functions.
“There are some complaints that have reached us about poor services in this hospital”, he said. “There is poor care, there are also children going missing. My team, accompanied by the General Inspector of Health, will follow up and monitor these complaints from the public”.
“We must value and respect complaints. That’s why a team has been set up, so that we can work, monitor and have evidence of what’s happening. This will give us evidence so that we can move forward”, he added.
During the visit, the Minister called on the health professionals to favor “humanized care” in order to create good relations with the patients and the community.
“I came to visit this hospital because, in the Ministry of Health’s 100-day governance plan, there is an extremely important activity, which is the issue of humanization, care in our hospitals, the availability of medicines and the hospital’s connection with the community”, he said.
The Minister also recommended that births be more humanized in order to reduce cases of obstetric violence.
“What I recommended to my colleagues in the maternity unit is that we have to go back to what we’ve always done in the sector, which is for each pregnant woman to have a companion throughout her labour in the maternity unit. It’s a recommendation for the whole country, not just for this hospital, because childbirth should be humanized”, he said.
Isse warned that no one should pay for childbirth and that there are channels for reporting unlawfull charges.
The Minister promised to make recurrent surprise visits to that health unit to guarantee improvements in the service provided to users and in the way it operates.
(AIM)
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