Agency
Bibia Health Center III in Atiak Sub-county, Amuru district, is facing a sharp drop in the number of outpatients as fears spread among the population following the admission of cholera patients.
Since the onset of the cholera outbreak early last month, the health facility has been at the forefront of managing cholera patients and has admitted more than 200 victims for treatment.
Five people, including an expectant mother, have since died at the health facility, all of them residents of Lorikor West village in Elegu Town Council, the epicenter of the disease, located at the Uganda-South Sudan border.
Milton Stephen Okello, the In-charge of Bibia Health Center III, noted that since the facility started admitting cholera patients, daily outpatient visits dropped significantly from about 80 patients to between 20 and fewer.
Okello said only patients who have serious health complications are making it to the health facility, adding that the majority of the population are reluctant, fearing potential exposure to the highly contagious diarrheal infection.
According to Okello, the challenge has been compounded by the inadequate spacing at the facility, which is now admitting more cholera patients than the facility’s bed capacity.
