Inhabitants of Shamunaro Village in the Kavango East Region are still finding it difficult to easily access health care services due to bad roads and the distances they have to travel to health facilities.

Villagers said they lost family members because they couldn't get to a hospital on time and their calls for help were ignored.

Poor network reception has also worsened the situation, preventing them from calling for help in case of emergency. 

"Around midnight on Saturday, Dikuwa Kashondo went through labour and delivered around 00:00, and the placenta stacked, which resulted in severe blood loss. The in-law started calling the Andara hospital at 01:45. During the call, the nurse who was on duty responded by promising that the ambulance would come shortly. At around 01:52, the nurse called back with her private number and said they should take the patient to the Shamaturu clinic, which is 18 kilometres from Shamunaro, yet there was no car at all. The next morning, which was Sunday, at around noon, the family tried to call the relative at Andara village to go and plead with nurses to assist with the ambulance. Only at around 16:00 did the family call to inform their mother, who was at Andara, to tell these nurses that the person just passed on and that was the time the Andara people could release the ambulance just to come pick up the corpse," said village spokesperson Uhunguko Kaputenyi.

They alleged that since April 2022, about seven people died due to late emergency response.

"When we attempt to contact the ambulance for assistance, they reply that they can only assist maternity patients while insisting that we transport these individuals to Shamaturu, despite the distance being 18 km. How can a sick person walk to cover such kilometres? Even if we call the office of the councillor, he or his team cannot show up, yet they give false information through the radio, as the office did send its people to come and get proper information."

The village had a first aid clinic that had closed years back.

The villagers appeal for upgrades to the road network and the construction of a medical centre.

Villages such as Shaditata and Shamaghandutji are experiencing limited access to health care services.

Receiving the petition, the Chairperson of the Divundu Village Council, Christoph Kupembona, assured the villagers that their letter would reach the intended office.

He further informed the villagers that the office of the Councillor of Mukwe Constituency has submitted a request to the Ministry of Works and Transport for the upgrading of Andara-Sahamaturu Road to Shamunaro Village. 

His office is still waiting for a response.

The nbc News team reached out to the Senior Medical Officer at Andara District Hospital, Erasmus Hapanyengwi, to confirm the reported deaths.

Dr. Hapanyengwi said the hospital would need time to verify the information, but some cases were familiar.