24 children paralysed in dispensary scandal

Parents in Teso North are in shock after their children’s legs became weak or paralysed after an injection at a local dispensary.

On Wednesday, residents stormed Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong’s office, accusing staff at the Akichelesit Dispensary of harming their children.

Nearly 30 families say their children had been affected by the strange disease.

In some cases, the parents claimed, the children’s feet started rotting away. “My seven-year-old son had malaria and was injected with some medicine and minutes later, he could not walk. The condition has worsened and he cannot move his limbs now,” said Mrs Annette Osiya at the county headquarters.

Mrs Osiya said staff at the dispensary claimed it was a hereditary problem.

Mrs Osiya’s problem is similar to that of Mr Abel Okiror, the father of a six-year-old girl who had a fever when she was taken to the dispensary in April and given an injection.

“She has been crying in pain since then. My daughter’s feet are now wobbly and she cannot support herself,” said Mr Okiror.

Most parents suspect the children were misdiagnosed.

County Health Executive Maurice Simiyu said in Busia yesterday a team of medics sent to the dispensary last week to investigate the cases had to flee for their lives after residents threatened to lynch them.

“We took the children who had been treated there to Busia Referral Hospital for further investigations. We have set up a special clinic to examine the 18 cases we have,” said Dr Simiyu.

Dr Simiyu said all the children were undergoing daily physiotherapy sessions and expressed optimism they would be able to walk in two months.

He, however, suggested the children may have been injected with wrong or expired drugs. There is also the possibility that they were injected in the wrong place, he added.

According to Dr Simiyu, the problem could have been caused by nerve injuries that stimulate movement of the limbs, which he says might be caused by an injection in the wrong place, particularly the buttocks.

“The condition could also be caused by use of expired drugs,” he said.

Dr Simiyu said he had summoned the nurse in charge of the dispensary and set up a team to investigate the matter.

He insisted it was national policy for medical practitioners to administer oral medication at all times.

The policy allows injections only in cases where oral medication cannot be administered.

The county official said samples of the drugs administered for malaria, fever, vomiting and painkillers will be taken for further analysis.