No clinic in Campbell means missed school and extra Travel costs for Musina families

Health-e News No clinic in Campbell means missed school and extra Travel costs for Musina families Limpopo.

Once a month, Neria Amon’s Grade 9 daughter misses school to accompany her mother and four-month-old twin siblings to Musina Hospital for their routine check-ups.

Amon, a single mother who survives on social grants, cannot carry both babies on her own.

She lives in Campbell township, about 10km from Musina Hospital.

More than two thousand people live in Campbell.

There is no clinic in the township, forcing residents to leave their homes before sunrise to travel to the provincial hospital or other health facilities further away for basic healthcare, routine check-ups and chronic medication.

“Every time, I have to tell lies at school so that my Grade 9 child can assist me by carrying the other baby.

We pay R60 for the whole journey, plus R100 for food for me and my Grade 9 child,” says Amon.

This means each routine hospital visit costs Amon about R160 for transport and food, while her daughter loses a day at school.

The R640 monthly expense means less money available for essential household items for a family surviving on social grants.

“If the clinic was in Campbell, I would not disadvantage my Grade 9 child.

I would simply carry the twin babies to the clinic,” she says.

Amon says her daughter complains whenever she is asked to accompany her to the hospital.

Getting healthcare at night Amon says the lack of a nearby health facility is even more difficult when her children become sick unexpectedly.