THERE WAS THURSDAY almost panic in the country. A message appeared in the media that in certain cases there was Code Black in the Academic Hospital Paramaribo. That message arose from an internal letter that was apparently sent within the hospital. However, when Fauzia Poese, head of the Emergency Department (ER) of the AZP, was interviewed, she denied that there was any Code Black.
There is pressure on healthcare because many nurses are leaving, but no Code Black. ‘In other countries it may be easier to declare a Code Black and the ER must close. But in Suriname there is only one, so we cannot close,” said Poese. However, if we go back to the definition of Code Black, this does not mean that departments are already closing.
Health and education are important pillars in a country. Yet, after almost a year in office, the current government has not made any significant progress
It is an official health emergency indicating that the demand for intensive care (ICU) beds and medical care exceeds available capacity. This means that doctors and hospitals must choose which patients do or do not receive the most intensive life-saving treatments. If we look at this definition, this has happened more often at the AZP and the complaints are getting worse every day.
It is understandable that Poese tries with all his might to deny that there is an emergency, because the hospital wants to protect its own reputation and prevent panic. But flat-out denial doesn’t help. It is also dangerous and unethical. The population must be able to trust that a health professional is honest and honest. That it mainly acts in the interests of the sick person and not only in the interests of the hospital.
But the biggest blame lies with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Every time, Minister Andre Misiekaba has his talk ready for the press. The general message is: everything will be fine, temporary workers will come and then everything will get better. Or we went to Colombia, we looked at the system there and we agreed on a follow-up process. It later turned out that the hospital in Colombia had come to Suriname with a burning demand: we want payment, now!
It has been months since the visit to Colombia, it has been even longer since a healthcare recovery plan had been written and that a healthcare council would be established. Nobody talks about that anymore. In addition, there is still no transparency about the financial management of the State Health Insurance Fund, where patients now have to pay hard cash for an MRI scan.
Health and education are important pillars in a country. Yet, after almost a year in office, the current government has not made any significant progress. And no one expects miracles, but a clear plan of action and a roadmap should now be presented. The stretch is already completely gone in the Public Health sector.
