Raj JUGERNAUTH
1 August 2007
column
Port Louis — Have you ever heard of hyperbaric oxygen therapy? Probably not, despite the fact that this therapy is now widely used abroad to treat health conditions ranging from headache to stroke.
It is used mainly to prevent leg amputation of diabetic people by destroying anaerobic bacteria, fungi and virus, which settle in to destroy the limb after even a small leg injury. It is also used in cases of stroke and heart attacks.
Few Mauritians are aware of the benefits of this therapy, which uses a hyperbaric chamber. We have one hyperbaric chamber, which was installed under the ex-government, to the tune of around Rs 15 million. This chamber is mainly used to treat those few rich tourists who fall victim to diving accidents.
And it was ordered by an ex-minister who was upset by the fact that those tourists who fell victims to such accident had to be flown to Reunion island for treatment. He considered it a shame to have recourse to this neighbour island when we boast to be a first-class tourist resort.
Unfortunately, this element of shame seems to have disappeared from Government House and in the midst of those PS and super CEOs who live on mammoth pay packages.
The level of development of the country has placed the population, and the tourists visiting us, in an accident-prone environment.
More than one month has elapsed since we drew the attention of the ministry to the fact that a neuro-surgical unit for spinal and brain surgery is now a must. We also underlined the fact that around two people die every week after head injury and that it is scandalous that some of these deaths occur only because the country does not have any intracranial pressure monitoring equipment. This equipment costs only Rs 250 000.
The death of two motorcyclists at Surinam on Monday, after sustaining head injury in an accident, reminds us of this stark reality. It also reminds us of the fact that the neuro- surgical unit, which was due to be commissioned in 2005 in a new building at Victoria hospital is still a dream.
It would be a nightmare and the next scandal for the ministry. After the scholarship and dirty bed sheet scandals, here comes another with this new building. Part of the wooden ceiling of this new building has started to fall down, its paint has already started to flake.
According to the ministry, the ground floor for this building would be used to house the casualty department - meaning the emergency department. But this floor is equipped with a laminar flow operating theatre. Such a theatre is not meant for small stitching done in casualty wards, but for high-tech surgery.
Meanwhile the super CEO of the ministry keeps holding whole-day management meetings in all hospitals. A pity that there is no follow-up of decisions taken during these management meetings and no framework for implementation.
No appropriate action is being taken and all our hospitals are sick with a careless and carefree attitude of their personnel. From the workshop to the maintenance and cleaning section, from the kitchen to the filing department, no one seems to be accountable and, to have a lock replaced on a door, one must write at least 15 letters to different people.
This type of situation was unthinkable under some ministers who did not have any super CEO. These ministers knew how to wield their authority and kick those who squandered public funds by their careless attitude.
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