A Member of the National Parliament raised concerns over the lack of oxygen and the lack of conditions at the National Hospital of Dili Guido Valadares (HNGV).
MP Antonio Bianco said this is not the first time it happened and patients keep dying.
“I went into the hospital at 1pm and saw with my two own eyes, there is no oxygen at the hospital. A doctor said they have been trying to resolve the problem to no avail,” said MP Bianco.
He said he also asked other health staff at the HNGV and was told there hadn’t been oxygen at the national hospital for years.
“The health staff appreciated our presence, MPs, at the HNGV so they could pass on their concerns to the leadership so they could do something about it,” added MP Bianco.
He also said he felt sorry for the doctors, referring to them as victims, for being asked to provide health services to patients without adequate facilities.
Meanwhile the HNGV Director General Domingos Soares, via telephone, rejected the MP’s claims saying the hospital has enough stocks of oxygen for patients.
“We have oxygen,” said DG Soares.
The Director General of the Medical and Health Equipment Autonomous Service (SAMES), that dispenses medicines to hospitals and other health centres across the country, Odete Maria Belo said SAMES has sufficient stock of oxygen.
She said hospitals and other health facilities should send a formal request to SAMES so it can distribute oxygen and medicines.
“We have oxygen but we have not yet received a request,” said Belo.
