Despite boost in spending, Angolans languish in hospital

LUANDA (AFP) ― In the Angolan hospital rooms that do have beds, two or three patients share each one, feeling fortunate not to be among the sick crowded into the corridors.

Angola has tripled its spending on health care since 2006, but for the vast majority of Angolans who can’t afford sparkling new private clinics ― or better yet, care abroad ― a trip to hospital is still a nightmare.

Morena Simao is still shocked at her experience giving birth in the Cajueiro public hospital.

“I was just abandoned to my fate. My life and my baby’s life were at risk, because the nurses were sleeping,” she said.

“They pretended not to have seen me and not to have heard my cries of pain.

They told me to shut up, they told me I was making too much noise and that the night is for sleeping.”

Simao had already lost a son under similar circumstances at the same hospital, and was afraid that she’d have to live through that torment again.

“I gave birth without help from midwives or nurses. They came when the baby was already born, and was lying in the cold on the ground. For them, it was enough to cut the umbilical cord,” she said.

Later, they asked for a tip, she added.

Similar scenes unfold daily in public hospitals across the country, where patients wait on the ground outside emergency rooms, which is perhaps better than fighting the crowds and the overwhelming stench inside.

Angola’s health care system collapsed during the 27-year civil war that ended in 2002. Despite its oil wealth, in 2006 Angola ranked ninth from the bottom in the world on health spending, which accounted for just 2.5 percent of gross domestic product.

Since then, spending per person has tripled from $64 to $204, according to World Health Organization data.

Yet Angola still has less than one doctor for every 10,000 people, while battling to eradicate preventable diseases like polio.

At the same time, some improvements have been made. Life expectancy remains low at 52, but is seven years longer than in 2005. During that time child mortality has steadily declined, and the number of babies receiving basic immunizations has roughly doubled.

“The Angolan government recognizes that there are certain problems in public hospitals, notably the lack of doctors, nurses and equipment for patients,” Health Minister Jose Vieira Dias Van-Dunem said after a recent meeting on conditions in hospitals.

“Despite these difficulties, the government is making important efforts to improve the sanitary situation in the country’s hospitals,” he said, pointing to the increase in spending.

“I have decided to humanize the health system and to improve sanitation services, without forgetting the government’s main goal, to reduce infant mortality and to reduce the burden of major diseases.”

The rush to improve may be part of the problem. An $8-million Chinese-built hospital in Luanda was evacuated last year after cracks emerged in the walls that drew fears of a collapse.

The frustration for many in Luanda is to see smart new private clinics opening their doors, yet remaining far out of reach except for the wealthy in the political and oil elite.

Angola is the continent’s second largest producer of crude oil after Nigeria, but the majority of its 18 million people live in poverty.

“If I were in a better situation, I would go to a private clinic, but unfortunately, that’s not the case,” said Natalia, who was still waiting for treatment four hours after arriving in the Cajueiro emergency room.

“So we have to endure the public hospitals, where the death of a sick person isn’t seen as a major problem.”