Our daily life in a pandemic

At the Katondwe Mission Hospital, we admit more and more patients each day, coming from different areas of Zambia.

There are many patients with sickle cell anaemia and so-called tropical splenic enlargement in our area. We also have patients with malaria, tuberculosis, HIV and malnutrition. Additionally, we see many cases of hypertension, asthma, diabetes, cancer, kidney and heart disease – these are patients who are particularly vulnerable to the severe course of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

We may administer oxygen only by using oxygen concentrators. We have problems getting the blood for our hospital. There is a long wait for the ordered blood, available only in limited amounts.

The quarantine sometimes reduces our already small team, but we do not give up. For now, we treat everyone, and only sometimes decide to shorten their stay in the hospital. We have had to reduce some elective operations, but this does not apply to frequent caesarean sections.

There have also been good moments in these difficult weeks.

We received a high rating in accreditation of our hospital. We hope to upgrade the Katondwe Mission Hospital into a facility of a higher referral level – from a primary care hospital to a general hospital. This involves an increase in the staff headcount and greater operational capacity.