(Excerpt from a story by Edmund Sanders in Nairobi, Kenya for LA Times)
Widowed and HIV-positive, Beatrice Achegin had no money to have her baby delivered
in a hospital. But she admitted herself anyway to reduce the risk of transmitting the
virus during childbirth. .........Hours after labor, both mother and baby were shunted into
a locked, guarded room with other indigent patients. They were given one meal,
sometimes two, a day but no clothes or diapers for the infants. Nurses visited
sporadically, mostly harassing them to pay their bills. After a week in the make-shift
patients' prison, Achegin's infant son began to shiver uncontrollably. One night, with no
doctors on duty and the guard too far to hear her cries for help, he died in her arms. The
next morning a nurse took the baby away but hospital officials detained the grieving
mother for six more months, demanding $250 in fees. She escaped one morning when
the guard fell asleep.
This story, on the front page of the Los Angeles Times, reports that these tragic situations are common in African developing countries. Conversely, because of the fear of being held hostage for payment, many terminally ill AIDS and cancer patients are presssured by their family members to flee on public buses back to their home villages in order to save hospital bills, postmortem fees and assure a decent burial.
These situations have implications for medical/health related teams working in African countries whose poorly funded public health systems engage in medical ramsom practices.
It is wise for health volunteers to learn about the common practices of local health agencies and assure that referred patients are provided with sufficient funds for service. If your team has encountered situations like the one described, above, please advise our readers how you interacted with the local government health agencies.