A Nigerian lady, identified as Fatima Senam Amouzou, has died at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital as a result of the hospital’s policy.
The teaching hospital and other hospitals in the country reviewed their policies for day-to-day patients’ care management including hospital admission policy due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
According to a report in The Cable by Goke Akinrogunde, Miss Amouzou was not a coronavirus patient, but was being treated for having an immuno-chemotherapy susceptible Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (mass) at the lower pelvic, lying behind the womb and upper vagina.
Goke Akinrogunde said: “The immediate response in LUTH, like some other hospitals in the country, among others, was closure of routine clinics, reduced and discouraged hospitals admissions and to reduce the available hospital on-ground staff.
“Health workers — doctors, nurses etc — were divided into two with departmental rosters drawn as weekly shift, this invariably halved the effective staff strength on ground at any point in time during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Goke Akinrogunde said the 34-year-old lady died on Saturday, April 11, after complaining of chest and abdominal pain as well as breathlessness the previous day.
Goke Akinrogunde also said the response to intervene was poor, adding that it took hours before the decision to admit Fatima was executed.
He said: “And there was no definitive intervention (dialysis etc) on the renal shutdown until she died in the morning of the following day, Saturday 11 April 2020.”
He said he had severe body pains and was the only person that lost his sense of smell out of 16 people in his ward. Seun said: “I also had diarrhoea at many different points before I got to the hospital and at the hospital.”
The photographer also shared the experience of one of his ward mates. He said: “There were three people in my ward who were very ill. They couldn’t eat, they were throwing up, they had diarrhoea, they had fevers and some other symptoms.”