The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
By Joan Akello
Dr Josephat Byamugisha Head of the obstetrics and gynaecology directorate said the new hospital will handle emergency cases only. It is projected that the facility will have bed capacity of 320 and 20 units for babies.
The hospital will sit in the main Mulago hospital complex. This is an attempt to decongest the department that handles over 32,000 deliveries annually and an average of 115 cases daily.
Byamugisha while addressing journalists at the hospital boardroom said the hospital administration in conjunction with the Kampala City council authority will renovate Kidudu and Kawempe hospitals to decongest Mulago. He added that Kawempe has the biggest number of referrals.
The department faces a challenge of high turnover of patients which Byamugisha led to the breakdown of much equipment, high attendant – patient ratio.
Byamugisha said that the men’s health centre at the hospital is to encourage more men to escort their partners to deliver at the health facility.
Kimuli Osuman, 25, security personnel and business man has escorted his expecting wives for delivery.
Robert Kadipa (27) brought his wife to the hospital and he was directed to the three year- old men’s health centre. This is an incentive to men who escort their expecting wives for delivery. The hospital counselor attends to these men as their wives are admitted to the maternity ward or theatre. Kadipa is expecting his third child and says the centre has helped him test for his HIV/AIDS status and also information on family planning.
The two men like others wait in this centre relax with a TV to entertain them unlike the female visitors who languish in the corridors to see patients.
Ruth Mulindwa , a counselor at the centre said many of the men test for the first time for fear of disclosure. She adds that once one is discovered positive, one is registered at the hospital’s follow-up clinic at upper Mulago and after a week they are put on CD4 treatment.
