Lopuyo health centre II operates in a dire state

7 February 2025, 1:39 pm

By Stanley Ebele

Lopuyo Health Centre II in Longaroe sub county, Kotido district, is grappling with a range of challenges that are hindering its ability to provide adequate health services.

The facility, which offers antenatal and postnatal services, routine immunisation, some laboratory services, outpatient consultations, TB care, nutritional services, and more, is confined to just four small rooms, with privacy being a major concern.

A recent visit by our reporters to the facility revealed that the labour suite serves multiple purposes, including antenatal and postnatal care, immunisation, and labour, while the other three rooms are used for various other services that are just a glance away.

Currently, the staff toilet facility is sinking, and the staff quarters have a collapsing ceiling.

According to the Patient Rights and Responsibility Charter 2019, Section 1, Article 15, patients are entitled to privacy during care, a right that is “untenable” given the multiple services being provided in the labour suite and the surrounding areas. Furthermore, the labour suite is equipped with only one delivery bed and lacks a lighting system.

With one room being used for more than three services, privacy cannot be guaranteed. The facility’s in-charge, Rogers Cherop, noted that the facility handles an average of 30-40 deliveries each month.

With daily patient attendance ranging between 100 and 150, the health centre further struggles to maintain a healthy and safe environment as it has no running water or nearby water source.

The water crisis has left the facility management with no choice but to kindly ask mothers attending antenatal services or going into labour to bring at least one jerrycan of water from their villages.

Mothers who visit Lopuyo Health Centre for antenatal services recently told our reporter that they are struggling to cope with the water crisis, as it is a necessity, especially for mothers in labour. An expectant mother, Esther Nyangan, says the biggest challenge is the lack of water at the facility, which she notes puts the lives of mothers delivering there at risk of other infections.

The water crisis at this facility and in its surrounding neighbourhood was triggered by a drought in October, which caused the water table to lower at a motorised well that serves the community and institutions in Longaroe Sub County. Kotido District Councillor representing Longaroe, Patrick Korobe Lokolimoe, stated that the sub-county has limited resources to address the water scarcity.

Meanwhile, to improve the level of service delivery, Cherop has formally requested the DHO, Dr. Cerino Achar, and the Kotido District Local Government to consider upgrading Lopuyo Health Centre II.

Dr. Achar told our news team on Tuesday that the district plans to upgrade the facility, but it is not yet included in the budget.

Dr. Achar, however, stated that in the next financial year (2026/2027), Kotido plans to build a staff toilet or renovate the facility, while acknowledging that the most critical needs are a maternity ward and an OPD.