The head of a public hospital in Senegal has been fired, and the personnel on duty on the day a pregnant lady died after waiting in vain for a caesarean section has been suspended.
These were the first fines imposed following the death, which sparked outrage across the country, with many social media users questioning the public health system’s competence.
An official from the Ministry of Health confirmed this to newsmen.
“The staff on duty are suspended. These are precautionary measures taken by the ministry,” she told reporters. The agents concerned “are at the disposal of the investigation and the police”, she added.
According to the Senegalese press, Astou Sokhna, a pregnant woman in her thirties, died on April 7 in Louga hospital (north) after demanding a caesarean section but being denied. The circumstances of her death, as recounted in the news by her relatives, elicited a great deal of sorrow.
The institution’s personnel declined her request for a caesarean section, claiming that her procedure had not been planned, and threatened to remove her if she insisted.
On Monday evening, President Macky Sall posted a message of condolence to her family on Snapchat, a popular social media platform among Senegalese women.
“Shine light on the causes of death in order to determine all responsibility,” he had said. On Tuesday evening, the health ministry said that missionaries had been dispatched to the hospital.