DR Christopher Tufton, following Thursday’s revelation that there are 118 operational ventilators in the health-care system, is challenging critics who are positing that the number of ventilators distributed among health facilities is still inadequate. Dr Tufton, the minister of health and wellness, reiterated that this number represents the largest number of ventilators that public health has had, while also arguing that there is a clinical justification for where ventilators are located and how they are used within the system. “I see people making calculations as to 118 divided by 24 ‘means each hospital should have ‘x’ amount; the number of ventilators for a three-million population is inadequate’.
There’s a clinical justification for ventilators — how they are located, how they are utilised, what are the support systems that are necessary, why there is a referral system from one hospital to another. And this is a good opportunity to have that kind of understanding so that the public is not misinformed or [anyone is able to] create an impression that could lead to a wrong conclusion,” he said during a press conference on Thursday. Dr Tufton pointed out that a ventilator on its own is not the solution as the machines have to be supported by an infrastructure, “So, you move a patient from one place to the next depending on the need, to ensure that a full system is supported.
” Expounding on this point, chief medical officer (CMO) in the health ministry, .
