BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – The Ministry of Health has listed eight achievements it has managed to attain between July and September 2024.
This is stated in the 2024/25 Second Quarter Performance Report of the Ministry of Health. Among the achievements, improvements in institutions such as the Mbabane Government Hospital, Manzini Government Hospital, Hlathikhulu Government Hospital were mentioned. The Ministry also extended its helping hand to some Emaswati in the rural areas, such as the opening of Ndunazithini Clinic. Below are the eight achievements listed by the Ministry:
1. The operationalisation of theatres of the new Referral and Emergency Complex at the Mbabane Government Hospital.
2. The commissioning of the new High Dependency Unit (HDU) wing at the Manzini Government Hospital. The HDU unit is meant to cater for critically ill NCD patients, including those with cancer, stoke among other complications.
3. The Hlathikhulu Public Health Unit structure was completed and commissioned.
4. The Ndunayithini clinic was also commissioned during this quarter.
5. The ministry is very thankful to His Majesty the King for having found time in his busy schedule to officially open KaZondwako maternity clinic.
6. Just a few years ago it seemed a dream but we are now very close as a country to having sufficient medical oxygen since a Liquid Oxygen Tank was installed at Mbabane Government Hospital.
7. The rehabilitation of Wards 4 and 5 at the National Psychiatric Centre is almost complete (92%), and the completion is planned for the end of October 2024. This will greatly reduce the congestion of the hospital, which has been the case for some years.
8. The ministry received a delivery of eight ambulances and two sedans donated by Standard Bank for Mankayane Government Hospital and National Psychiatric Hospital. The ambulances have been distributed to hospitals and health centres. The conversion of another four ambulances was being done at the time of compiling this report.
The report further states that Eswatini Blood Transfusion Service collected 2 098 units of blood and blood products during the quarter. This represents 52.5 percent of the target of 4 000 for the quarter. Logistical challenges have led to the lower collections. However less health facilities (41 percent) reported being out of stock of blood and blood products this quarter compared to the same quarter in 2023, where 62 percent reported stock outs.
The ministry is currently conducting urgent public awareness campaigns for regular blood donation to maintain adequate demand for blood. During the period the Government of Eswatini confirmed the decision to transition the Central Medical Stores to a semi-autonomous entity. The Task Team leading the process has engaged with partners to source a management firm to undertake the assessment and re-organization of the CMS.
The management firm has been recruited and will be starting next month (November 2024). A Steering Committee of three Principal Secretaries (Health, Public Service, Finance) and NERCHA will soon be engaging the selected Management Firm to advise on the approach to the CMS transformation.
The ministry was allocated a total budget of E 2 958 960 000 of which E2 758 086 127 was recurrent and E200 192 000 for capital for the financial year 2024-25. The ministry was able to spend E1 180 384 587 out of the released amount of E1 543 478 747.
This represented an expenditure of 76 percent. One of the reasons for the under-expenditure was that some payments had not been fully processed as we were still awaiting deliveries of supplies and invoices to facilitate the payments, according to the report. As at September 20, 2024 the amount owed to suppliers and service providers was E131 717 994.57. Phalala Fund owed E52 774 716.11 to service providers.
