Urambo Hospital 2015 Update

The child health care clinic is open 3 days a week and generally sees 100 children at each clinic.

There is an active vaccination programme running, though 85% of the illnesses seen is malaria, and the paediatric ward said the most common illness they see is complicated malaria.

The HIV clinic runs an active programme which works to prevent transfer of HIV from mother to child. Patients visit this clinic monthly and receive good and free medication, provided by the government. The HIV clinic is open 3 days a week and usually sees 60 – 70 patients each day. Patients are reliant on their relatives to provide them with food and some care. There are only 7 delivery beds in the maternity ward and this can be insufficient some nights, though the staff here were very friendly and positive. The operating theatre appeared basic but clean. The elective day for operations is Tuesday with only emergency operations being done on other days.

The X-ray department works daily, mostly chest X-rays checking for TB linked to HIV, pneumonia, and also for injuries, many from road traffic accidents, a knock-on effect from the faster traffic on the tarmac roads. The laundry has 3 brand new machines but usually only one is working, mostly due to the lack of staff. There is a real lack of funds to pay these workers and the hospital tends to rely on retired people working for a very low wage.

Jo Taylor
FUM Clinics Liaison Officer