The Parliamentary Committee on Health says the scarcity of food is one of the major challenges people are facing in Public hospitals.
Following field visits to selected hospitals in Thyolo, Balaka, Ntcheu, Dowa, and Rumphi, among others, the committee found that most hospitals lack sufficient resources to provide three meals a day to patients.
Chairperson of the committee, Mathews Ngwale, said this in parliament when he was presenting a report on the provision of meals in public hospitals.
According to Ngwale, when they visited Thyolo District Hospital, the hospital had only 10 kilograms of beans for 238 patients.
He indicated that most hospitals lack nutritional food, posing a significant threat to patients’ recovery.
He also disclosed that, in most hospitals, patients are eating once a day, a worrisome situation the Government needs to act it as soon as possible.
“The situation is unacceptable and needs to be addressed from the budget. The government must immediately take steps to collect this, especially during the budget session ahead or mid-year budget session.
“We recommend establishing a special budget line for meals and ensuring timely and sustainable allocations of resources to hospitals,” he explained.
Additionally, Ngwale said the field visit also established that hospitals in the country face accumulated bills and debts, crippling their operations.
Conquering with the Health committee chair, MP for Thyolo central Ben Phiri said funding to hospitals across the country is so erratic to the extent that the hospitals are unable to feed the patients.
“You are well aware that the first medication for any patient is food that’s why they are saying drink the medicine after food. Now the patients are eating once, and you expect them to drink medicine three times a day that is completely out of order,” he explained.
Phiri added that there is a need for the Government to make sure that they fund the councils very well so that people can receive the treatment as required.
