Saving Lives In Uganda

Vocational Training - Reducing Infant & Maternal Mortality

Kamuli Mission Hospital (KMH) is typical of many private, not-for-profit hospitals which deliver healthcare to poor rural communities across Uganda in East Africa.  The hospital is a District General Hospital or a Health Centre 5 serving a population of 700,000 people.  Rotary Doctor Bank helps hospitals in rural Uganda, Zambia, Rwanda and Tanzania where typically there are only two or three doctors for a hospital of several hundred beds. The one surgeon would deal with all surgical matters. Most rural hospitals in Africa operate in very challenging circumstances with few resources, a constant shortage of (particularly trained) staff, materials and equipment.  It is not untypical to find no intravenous fluids, limited antibiotics and inadequate dressings. Delivery equipment might at times be limited to half a razor blade and a limited number of cord ligatures, or an incubator comprising three lightbulbs!

The four-strong team, led by senior midwife Gillian Pearce, spent two weeks at Kamuli Mission Hospital in Uganda, which delivers more than 2,000 babies a year, despite having no trained paediatrician. The team, whose trip was funded by RC Elthorne-Hillingdon helped by a grant from the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, provided training for more than 250 staff, including managing birth emergencies and emergency life support for new-born babies.  An important part of their work was a 'train the trainer' programme so that skills could be passed on to colleagues once the team had returned to the UK.  Dr Jide Menakaya, a neonatal paediatrician at Hillingdon Hospital said the team felt privileged to make the visit and share their skills.  He said: