{UAH} Doctors who help Ugandan hospital

Doctors who help Ugandan hospital Published 14/04/14
GENERAL practitioner Philip Unwin was the speaker at this week's meeting of Henley Rotary Club with the subject "The medical needs of Africa".  He spends two weeks a year of his holiday entitlement bringing much-needed surgical skills to the Kamuli Mission Hospital in Uganda.  The hospital, which has been in existence for more than 100 years and is situated near the source of the Nile, is owned and run by an order of Franciscan nuns. Fifty nuns work as nurses and there is also a nursing school.  Uganda has the highest fertility rate in the world and, on average, every woman has eight or nine live births.  The hospital deals with 2,500 births a year and caesarean section is a common procedure as many woman go into labour at home and when difficulties occur they frequently have a journey of a day or two to get to the hospital.  The operating theatre has an 80-year-old Ugandan anaesthetist who started at the hospital when he was just 16. He is on call 24 hours a day and in all that time has only had one break, when his daughter got married.  Such is the dedication of the medical staff.  Surgery can be needed following the most awful abuse, road accidents and industrial accidents. Antibiotics are not always readily available and often the wounds become infected and more difficult to treat.  Dr Unwin and Dr Jim McWhirter, a member of Henley Bridge Rotary Club, have identified an urgent need to rebuild the nurses' quarters.  The present buildings are in a deplorable condition with ever-present health risks from rats, bats and mosquitos. The sanitary arrangements are virtually non-existent.  Dr Unwin is trying to raise £30,000 for this work. With corruption such as it is in Africa, the duo personally arrange the builders, see that the work is satisfactorily completed and then pay the builders directly.  Club president Roger Sayer presented a cheque to Dr Unwin.  The vote of thanks was given by Will Busher.  Earlier, David Rusman reported that the Big Band Night held on Friday made a profit of £1,700, which will be shared by three local charities.

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower