By Elias Biryabarema
KAMPALA, April 9 (Reuters) - Scovia Nakawooya's unborn child died inside her as...View MoreBy Elias Biryabarema
KAMPALA, April 9 (Reuters) - Scovia Nakawooya's unborn child died inside her as she struggled to
reach a hospital on foot. She died hours later - one of at least seven women in labour to become casualties of
Uganda's coronavirus lockdown, a rights group said.
Fearful that the viral pandemic could overwhelm already overburdened hospitals, authorities have banned
private transport without special authorisation. But in a poor country with few ambulances, the travel ban can be deadly for some.
A human rights group in the East African country says seven women in labour and two babies have died because they were forced to walk to hospital to give
birth. The Ministry of Health said it was investigating the reports and
could not comment yet.
The government ban on private transport in place since March 30
includes people suffering medical emergencies.
But public health officials say barring vehicles from the road is making it hard for patients and personnel
to reach medical facilities.
"Very ridiculous," Dr. Muhereza Mukuzi, general secretary of the Uganda Medical Association, said in reference to
the ban.
With public ambulances scarce, Ugandans typically reach hospital
in private vehicles, but now need special permits to drive from resident district commissioners.
There is no central number to call and only one or two officials can authorise a journey in each of Uganda's 134
districts. Many commissioners have not shared their numbers or do not
answer, citizens have complained in local media.
Nakawooya's family had no idea who to call as the 39-year-old mother
of four writhed in pain on April 3. Her husband, Francis Kibenge, begged drivers to
take her to a hospital a mile and a half away.
"No one was willing," the brickmaker told Reuters at their modest
house in a suburb west of the capital Kampala.
Fresh concrete was drying on Nakawooya's grave outside.
Her infant rested next to her under a small mound of red soil.
STRUGGLE
Grace Nagawa, the couple's 19-year-old daughter, curled into
a fetal position and wept as she described her mother's 90-minute struggle to reach help.
"Sometimes she would stop, bend and put her hand on her thigh to support her body, just to rest a bit," Nagawa said.
A doctor who examined Nakawooya at the BMC Medical Centre said she appeared to be suffering a premature separation of the
placenta from the uterus.
"Walking a long distance in that condition was very dangerous," Dr.
Denis Tumwesigye told Reuters.
Nakawooya died at the medical centre the next morning.
Primah Kwagala, head of the Women's Pro Bono legal initiative in Uganda,
cited six other reports of women who died in labour because they could not reach a hospital.
In Wakiso, police drove a woman in labour to hospital after she bled heavily all night, but she
died anyway, Kwagala said.
In Alebtong district, two babies died in childbirth, although their mothers survived,
she said.
In neighbouring Kenya, the family of a motorbike taxi driver say police beat him to death when he
violated a coronavirus curfew on March 27 to take a woman in labour to hospital.
Police did not respond to requests for comment this week.
Uganda had recorded 53 cases of coronavirus infections, and no deaths, as of Thursday afternoon. (Reporting
by Elias Biryabarema with additional reporting by Joseph Akwiri in Mombasa Editing by Katharine Houreld, Alexandra Zavis and Mark Heinrich)
my web site :: <a href="https://nagabetway.org">Nagaway</a>;
About Me
By Elias Biryabarema
KAMPALA, April 9 (Reuters) - Scovia Nakawooya's unborn child died inside her as...View More