Dogs overrun Mandalay hospital wards

Dogs overrun Mandalay hospital wards

By Mg Zaw   |   Thursday, 01 May 2014

Mandalay's main hospital has been overrun - but not by patients. Stray dogs are roaming the wards, terrorising staff, patients and their relatives, amid accusations the hospital's management has failed to take act on complaints about the problem.

One Mandalay resident who recently took care of a relative staying in ward two at Mandalay General Hospital said officials need to take stronger steps to prevent dogs entering the wards.

"I don't know how the dogs get in but once they are here we can't scare them away," said the person, who asked not to be named.

"Patients are trying to rest and then the dogs are here fighting each other and making a lot of noise. We are also scared of getting bitten and we want action to be taken.

Ma Myint Myint Lwin, who recently accompanied a relative during a stay in the hospital, said hospital officials seemed to be ignoring the problem.

"We arrived in the hospital on April 27 and there hasn't been a single day where I didn't see a dog enter the patient ward," she said.

"We told the nurses about the dog problem but they can't solve it. They said they will tell the hospital management but so far nothing has changed."

Hospital spokesperson U Min Lwin acknowledged the dogs were a problem and said he would raise the issue with the hospital's superintendent.

"We will solve this problem," he said. "But we can't always watch the wards all the time. When we see the dogs, we scare them away or call [Mandalay] City Development Committee to catch them."

Translation by Khant Lin Oo

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2014/05/03/dogs-overrun-mandalay-hospital-wards/