Uganda’s Ministry of Health has informed the public that the use of cannulas to administer treatment for outpatients is strictly forbidden in medical practice.
The ministry has already issued circulars to health facilities reminding and warning them against using cannulas to administer treatment to patients who are not admitted.
The government has used the occasion of the World Patient Safety Day September 17, to educate the publi that that cannulas are strictly for use on inpatients and are dangerous to move around with outside the hospital setting as pose heighted risks of infection directly into a person’s blood stream.
The Director General of Health Services in the ministry ,Dr Charles Olaro ,has issued a stern warning to clinics and health centres against the practice, saying health workers already know that cannulas are only for use to treat admitted patients and it is wrong to use them to treat outpatients who are going outside the facility.
He said anybody being treated as an outpatient must be treated using other methods but not cannula.
DR Olaro disclosed that it is unscrupulous medical workers who for purposes of inflating bills use cannulas on outpatients.
He also said government is aware that the practice of moving around with cannulas grew during the Covid-19 pandemic when people used it as a trick to beat movement restriction.
Similarly, ugandaupdatenews has also learnt that some people take photos sporting cannulas as a strategy to con relatives and friends of money, purpoting to be undergoing treatment but lacking money for the bills.
