Two diabetic patients who are told to discharge from the National Referral Hospital have been without food supply for at least nine days.
Rexford Okota, 73, and Nelson Mwaki, 38, were told to move out of the National Referral Hospital on the 27th of April last month but they refused to leave because life back home is even worse than expected especially when living with only one leg.
Okota said he will not leave the hospital until his request for a proper toilet and water supply is met.
He said weeks ago he went back to his home at Adaliwa east Honiara,where he only stayed there for a night and return back to the hospital because of the difficulties he encountered when trying to access toilet and running water.
Okota said he already had a house and the only thing he needed in his house is toilet and running water to make life easy for him.
He said if only the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR)can assist him with his need for a proper toilet and running water, going home is not a problem.
Meanwhile, Mwaki said their request to the acting National Coordinator for the Community Based Rehabilitation for toilet and running water in their homes has fallen on deaf ears.
Instead he said the same person that they channelled their request to, which is the Acting National Coordinator of Community Based Rehabilitation, has instructed them to move out from the hospital on the 27th of April without addressing the problems that they were faced with.
Mwaki said now that they live with only one leg, life is not normal anymore and the most important thing that they need before moving back to their respective homes is toilet and proper running water.
He also raised concern over the decision taken by the responsible authority to cut food supply from them.
He said diabetic patients like them are under control diet and the decision to cut food supply from them has left them with no choice but to eat whatever food they can afford.
Mwaki added that cutting food supply from diabetic patients like them is indirectly killing them.
He said for the past nine days they only eat bread and biscuits to keep them alive because the responsible authority has stopped feeding them since the 27th of April last month.
He said they were also informed that water and electricity to the building that they were admitted in will also be cut, but when this paper visited the building, water and electricity is still running.
Mwaki said they understand that the reason why they want the both of them to move out from the building they were currently occupying is to allow renovation work to carry on.
In the meantime, the principal prosthetic officer, who is looking after the two diabetic patients at the ward, George Warren said the two diabetic persons are still under treatment and diet and the reason why their food supply was ceased is not clear.
Warren said they will still look after the two diabetic patients even though their food supply has been ceased.
He said the two diabetic patients were moved to where they are now purposely to get their artificial legs.
However, to this day only Oketa has received his artificial leg while Mwakiis still waiting for his artificial leg which has been delayed due to financial reasons.
By BIRIAU WILSON SAENI
