Dr. Gak Kueth, Acting Director General of Malakal Teaching Hospital, speaks to Eye Radio in Malakal. Photo credit: Obaj Okuj.

The Acting Director General of Malakal Teaching Hospital says the health facility has been without essential drugs for more than five months, leaving patients without access to life-saving medicines.

Dr. Gak Kueth, who is also a medical doctor at the hospital, said the facility is the main referral center for Malakal town and surrounding counties in Upper Nile State.

He explained that the hospital has completely run out of life-saving medicines, including drugs used to treat hypertension, diabetes, and other long-term conditions.

The last batch of drugs was exhausted around September this year.

Dr. Kueth said patients continue to visit the hospital daily, but health workers can only write prescriptions without dispensing medicines.

“We have stayed for more than five months without receiving drugs in the hospital. The problem is that we also have not received incentives for over six months, and these incentives usually come together with the drug consignments.

“You may have the human resources, but without drugs it means nothing. Since September, we have finished all the drugs in our stores. We are still receiving patients, but we only prescribe medicine because there are no drugs,” he explained.

He added that the drug shortage is linked to delays in the payment of incentives for health workers, who have gone for more than six months without receiving their allowances.

Staff incentives and drug consignments are usually delivered together, meaning the absence of incentives has also affected the delivery of medicines.

“Third, is the issue of the incentives, the staff have stayed for six months now, they didn’t receive their incentives, that is since June up to now they didn’t receive their incentives,” he said.

Dr. Kueth also spoke about security challenges in Malakal, which he says have forced many health workers to leave the town, further weakening the hospital’s capacity to operate.

“The most challenging facing Malakal Teaching Hosptial is the return of the insecurity because is affecting us a lot to get qualified specializes, because most of the qualified staff are fearing to come here and this one of the challenges,” he added.

He noted that insecurity has discouraged some qualified staff from remaining at their duty stations, leading to shortages of experienced personnel at a time when the hospital is already struggling with limited supplies.

Malakal Teaching Hospital, which was recently renovated, is the largest public health facility in Upper Nile State and serves as a referral center for surrounding counties.