Uganda: appeal for help as one doctor serves 16,200 refugees

There is only one doctor, serving 16,200 people, in Kyaka II Refugee Camp in Uganda, Fides reports. Basic services are available at two health centres in the camp. For emergencies, such as caesareans, surgery, and blood transfusions, patients must go to the Kyegegwa Health Centre, about 15 km away, while the most serious emergencies must go to Fort Portal, the government hospital about 140 km away.

Within the field, which extends for 209 square feet, there is only one ambulance. The pediatric ward has nine beds and 27 children are hospitalized, three to a bed.

But lack of healthcare is just one of the problems facing the people. There is also a shortage of food, which make it difficult to take antiretroviral drugscorrectly,

There is violence, especially among the Congolese. Malaria and dysentery are the main diseases among the patients in the Kyaka II. According to a survey conducted by the Uganda Virus Research Institute in 2008, the rate of HIV in Kyaka was 7.6%, compared to the national average of 5.4% in 2009.

The refugees in the refugee camp belong to nine nationalities, and the majority of HIV cases are from among the Congolese, 45,000 of whom are displaced in camps in Nakivale and Kyaka II. Both health services present in Kyaka II offer advice to HIV positive patients, those with post-traumatic stress disorder and psychological trauma. There is a need for a greater number of doctors who to care for these people with seriousness and constancy, as they are affected by the turmoil of war, violence, and lack of health care.

Source: Fides