Suubi Trust: Supporting Healthcare in Pader

Providing Care to the Disadvantaged

Many will have heard of the oddly named Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the 20 year civil war they fought in Northern Uganda. Notorious for abducting 25,000 children to fight as soldiers, countless atrocities were committed leaving deep scars on the communities. During this time there was a total breakdown in health care, education, farming, trade, water and sanitation.

Suubi Trust is working with International Medical Foundation, a Ugandan NGO, to fund their work at a health clinic in Pader, one of the areas ravished by the LRA. This clinic is being managed in partnership with the Ministry of Health.

The clinic is managed by senior staff from IMF including a doctor, a nurse and a lab technician. These IMF staff help to support the District staff, enhancing their capabilities, expanding their clinical knowledge and skills, and building on quality systems so that they in turn can run the facility more efficiently in the future.

Whilst providing and helping to improve the general healthcare services for the local population, the IMF staff at this clinic also provide primary healthcare free of charge to those that cannot afford to pay. Costs for these treatments are met from the funds raised in the UK by Suubi Trust and its supporters.

2,396 charity patients have been treated since October 2008.

Typical health issues treated include Respiratory Tract Infection, Malaria, Urinary Tract Infection, Fungal Infection and Gastroenteritis.

Dr. Hillary Irimaso has joined as the medical officer in charge. You can read more about him and other recent updates by downloading the August 2009 update, just click here.

Often in rural clinics drugs and medical supplies go missing. The Pader Clinic dispensary is well equipped with essential drugs and treatments and a new stock taking system is in place with daily recording of usage. The clinic now has microscopes so that simple lab tests can be done.

The clinic dispensary is now much better equipped

Staffing can also be a problem with difficulties in recruiting and keeping them in the clinic! The funding Suubi Trust provides helps provide a decent salary, food and accommodation in what is a tough and remote working environment. Bonus schemes reward staff for delivery on basic performance indicators such as attendance, complying with new systems and customer care.

It's sometimes easy to lose hope because of corrupt Governments, overwhelming need and waste by large NGO's, but the beauty of this project is that it is small scale and efficient with tremendous back up from the sponsoring NGO which has access to and support from International Hospital Kampala (IHK), Uganda's first ISO certified medical institution.

Indeed, the funding also means that the most serious cases from Pader can be transferred to IHK's Hope Ward, a charitable 25 bed ward, where specialist medical care can be provided for victims who have been traumatized by the war and who require plastic surgery; complex cancer treatment for both children and adults; restoring the physical and psychological victims of burns and acid attacks; caring for children with complications arising from HIV and AIDS; complex gynaecological surgery and surgery to repair Atrial-Septal Defects (ASD) commonly known as a hole in the heart, a first for Uganda.

One of our young patients in Hope Ward...

If you would like to help support this work then please click here to read how you can give to Suubi Trust.

Trade Aid UK is working with Suubi Trust to fund its work at a health clinic in Pader, Uganda

Trade Aid UK seeks to help eliminate the effects of world poverty through sustainable commercial trade. By providing a top quality sugar product, it aims to give consumers a new choice for this most basic of commodities. At the same time, customers can be confident that they are making a real difference. As an alternative supplier of household sugars, profits generated are donated to help people who are deprived of the basic necessities of life, such as water, food, healthcare and housing.

Suubi Trust is extremely grateful for Trade Aid's support which they have indicated will be ongoing. You will find their sugar in Tesco Stores. Buy it and spread the word and we can reap the benefits! Visit the Trade Aid website at www.tradeaiduk.com.

...back to top

Case Studies

Joseph

Opiyo Joseph, 2 years old, with severe malaria and anaemia was brought in from a village about five km from the clinic. His mother had walked there hoping to get much needed help. After consultation it was determined that Joseph needed to be referred to the main hospital for a blood transfusion. Unfortunately the clinic ambulance had no fuel and his mother had no money for public transport. She was about to give up hope and watch her child die when the IMF administrator came forward with money from our funds to buy fuel. Joseph and his mum were transported to the hospital where he was able to receive the necessary transfusion.

Small gifts can make such a big difference, often helping to save a life.

Janeth

Janeth is a 30 year-old mother of 3 who walked to the Pader Clinic from a neighbouring village, accompanied by her own mother. She had suffered from frequent abdominal pain over the previous 8 years and had courses of treatment in various places that sometimes helped her for short periods. These bouts would sometimes last for days or weeks and would sometimes be accompanied by vomiting of large volumes of blood. She often felt dizzy and weak after these bouts and had difficulty with working and looking after her children.

She was worried that she might have something even more serious than ulcers, as her problem had kept recurring over the years and got much worse each time she was pregnant.

The Clinical Officer diagnosed severe peptic ulcer disease, due to Helicobacter infection and prescribed a course of antibiotics and acid suppressant drugs. This treatment, when prescribed and taken correctly, usually results in long term and sometimes permanent cure.

When Janeth returned for review a week later her symptoms had greatly improved and it is likely that she can look forward to long-term relief from her symptoms.

Peptic ulcer disease is common in Uganda and causes a lot of preventable suffering as well as occasional life-threatening complications such as major bleeding and perforation. The drugs that are required for effective treatment are widely available, however the condition tends to be ineffectively treated because of a combination of factors, including poor clinical skills and lack of funding for complete courses of medication.

Suubi Trust has helped Janeth by providing the essential combination of clinical competence and correct medication.

...back to top