UGANDA – Uganda’s Ministry of Health has upgraded infrastructure at Moroto Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH) to improve health service delivery in the Karamoja region.

The improved infrastructure includes a Women’s hospital with a modern maternity ward, a new Multidrug-Resistant (MDR)TB ward, OPD/Causality unit, Orthopedic/Laboratory, Radiology and 30 staff houses with Semi-detached units for Consultants.

Other investments include an Oxygen plant that produces 1,600 liters of medical Oxygen on a daily basis and a 10-bed intensive unit whose investment is ongoing by attracting personnel to manage it.

The hospital is currently supervising Karamoja Region with 144 health facilities inclusive of St Kizito hospital, two District General Hospitals at Kaabong and Abim, Health Center IVs, Health Center IIIs and HCIIs.

At the commissioning of the new facilities, the Minister of Health Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng said the hospital serves 9 districts that include Moroto, Kotido, Abim, Napak, Amudat, Kaabong, Nabilatuk, Nakapiripirit and Karenga as well as foreigners from Kenya and South Sudan.

“The add-ons have boosted the quality of infrastructure compared to what was there between 1940 and 1950 when it was a health post and later a General Hospital,” Dr Jane Ruth remarked.

The government has invested a lot of resources in the referral hospital and it plans to invests even more in the next 5 years.

Politicians and the donor community have also been pushing for the well-being of the people in Karamoja region and they hoped for huge investments in the health sector as a healthy population is more productive.

Good health is vital to individual well-being that contributes significantly to economic progress as well as advancement of both medical care and research.

Uganda Cancer Institute makes progress in research

In recent events, the Uganda Cancer Institute Research and Ethics Committee (UCIREC) has been praised for its role in overseeing scientific research on the treatment and care of cancer patients at the institute.

The research and ethics committee does high quality reviews of scientific proposals submitted to the cancer institute to protect the humans undergoing research.

It undertakes 40 to 50 reviews and renewals of scientific research proposals yearly.

The Acting Executive Secretary at the Uganda National Council of Science and Technology (UNCST) Dr. Martin Patrick Ongol emphasized the need for research on herbal medicines to determine which type of cancers they can cure.

“There is pressure from traditional medical practitioners to use their medicines for treating cancer but the cause and effect of their medicines must be proved,” the UNCST chief noted.

UNCST promotes ethical research in the country through decent allowances needed to support committees overseeing tedious studies of over 3,000 pages.

For instance ,gene therapy promises to be a good technique for managing difficult diseases like cancer and protocols are being set up to begin its research in cancer treatment and other diseases.

The Uganda Cancer Institute is working to set up an independent scientific review committee at the institute to improve the quality of research. 

The research on patients, if not well done, can lead to the violation of rights, manipulation, sickness and death thus when body samples are taken for research, it has to be done respectfully.

Liked this article? Sign up to receive our regular email newsletters, focused on Africa and World’s healthcare industry, directly into your inbox. SUBSCRIBE HERE