Health workers in Jinja trained in prevention of NCDs

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Uganda Protestant Medical Bureau-UPMB and Healthy Heart Africa-HHA, have trained 35 health workers in the management and prevention of non-communicable diseases at lower health facilities in Jinja district.

In a five day training concluded at the Jinja Civil Service College on Friday, health workers were tipped on rallying their clients to exercise at least four times a week to minimize the risk of acquiring NCDs.

James Mwesigwa, the project manager of UPMB-HHA partnership says that the two-year project involves continuous monitoring on the progress of NCDs management in over 35 health facilities from the districts of Mukono, Buikwe, Jinja, Iganga and Kamuli.

He notes that most health workers lack the requisite skills to handle NCD patients and refresher courses are inevitable to reawaken them.

Mwesigwa further says that the project also involves the distribution of free NCDs screening machines to promote free community screening which will ease early detection and treatment of NCDs.

Mwesigwa adds that their research indicates that 70% of the hypertensive patients fail to access treatment due to lack of funds to purchase drugs, however, the project involves offering low-cost quality medicines to all NCD patients diagnosed from the project beneficiary health facilities.

Meanwhile, Moses Lyagoba, the Kamuli Assistant District Health Officer in charge of maternal and child health says that NCDs treatment and prevention are less prioritized in lower health facilities which creates a backlog on the region’s regional referral hospital which in turn results into high fatality rates.

According to the ministry of health survey conducted in 2014, 33% of deaths recorded in all health facilities throughout the country resulted from NCDs, however screening levels remain low among potential victims.

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