Gender Equality Platform wishes to convey their condolences to the family of the Prilep patient and strongly reacts to the state’s and the healthcare institutions’ negligence demonstrated in their gross violation of human rights and the flagrant infraction of the country’s laws as a direct reason for the death occurred.
Apparently, according to the information shared in the public, there are indications that the law has been broken by failing to provide adequate sanitary and hygienic conditions in the health facilities, that is, by failing to apply appropriate hygienic measures, the direct consequence of which was the death of a patient. This indicates to a serious criminal offence being committed against people’s health which, unfortunately, has recently repeated several times in our country. Once the curettage was performed on her in the Prilep hospital, the patient was sent to home treatment, just to return the very next day on account of seriously deteriorated condition, after which she was referred to the Infectious Clinic in Skopje, where she died. This was the reason to close the operating rooms in the Prilep hospital and take swabs for analysis. What is particularly concerning and should not go without taking responsibility is the suspected presence of a very rare and dangerous nosocomial bacterium in this health facility.
Even though, according to hospital’s reports, the procedure has been launched to verify the presence of the nosocomial bacterium, there has been neither official statement by the Ministry of Health nor any information about actions being taken by the State Sanitary and Health Inspectorate.
This case is a mere culmination of continuous reports on poor hospital conditions and lack of access to quality sexual and reproductive health care and services in our country. We have recently already reacted to the case of Jeldz Veaposka, in which, to everybody’s shock, it was established that no medical error or omission has been made by the gynaecologist Muhamed Asani, who now continues to be the director of the Struga hospital and the owner of an unregistered gynaecological office.
Taking all this into account, the Gender Equality Platform urgently demands that:
- the results from the examination of the bacteriological conditions in the Prilep hospital premises be published in full transparency;
- the Ministry of Health comes out with a press release and takes responsibility for the case and for the sanitary and hygienic conditions in the country’s health facilities;
- the State Sanitary and Health Inspectorate conducts an inspection supervision and informs the public of the results.
Member Organizations of the Gender Equality Platform:
- Tiiiit! Inc.
- Fight like a Girl (Bori se zenski)
- Women Civic Initiative – ANTICO
- Women’s Forum
- Association for Equal Opportunities SEMPER
- Association for local and rural development
- Association for Support of Marginalized Workers STAR-STAR
- Association for the Promotion of Gender Equality Akcija Zdruzenska
- Association for Emancipation, Solidarity and Equality of Women – ESE
- Association for Educational Development Ekvalis
- Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities Skopje
- Coalition Margins
- LezFem
- Network for Protection against Discrimination
- National network to end violence against women and domestic violence
- National Council for Gender Equality
- Organization of Women of the City of Skopje (OWS)
- Organization of women of municipality of Sveti Nikole
- Women’s Organization “Kumanovka”
- Reactor – Research in Action
- Rural Coalition
- Stella
- TAKT
- Helsinki Committee for Human Rights
- HERA – Health Education and Research Association
- HOPS – Healthy Options Project Skopje
- Humanitarian Association “Mother”
- Center for Research and Policy Making – CRPM
