Mulago National Referral Hospital Aims to Perform 4,000 Surgeries in Independence Day Medical Camp
Mulago National Referral Hospital has launched an ambitious weeklong medical camp in celebration of Uganda’s 61st Independence Day. The goal is to conduct over 4,000 surgeries, including complex and minor procedures, drawing more than 2,000 patients in need.
Mulago National Referral Hospital has embarked on an ambitious mission to conduct more than 4,000 surgeries during a special weeklong medical camp.
The camp organised in celebration of the nation’s 61st Independence Day commenced with both complex and minor surgeries on Monday 2nd October 2023, drawing over 2,000 patients in need of various procedures.
Dr. Rosemary Byanyima, the Acting executive director of Mulago National Referral Hospital, expressed the facility’s commitment to providing essential healthcare to the community. A remarkable feature of this initiative is the setup of 18 tents to offer free treatment and surgeries to those in need.
Byanyima said: “We are assessing all patients during the camp and those requiring further management will be pushed into other weeks to get operated upon.”
She noted that over 100 surgeons have been prepared for the surgeries which include neurosurgery, orthopedic, ear nose and throat, eye, plastic, reconstructive, ear, nose and throat, pediatric, gastrointestinal tract, oral, urology, colorectal, endocrine, rehabilitative, anaesthesia and organ transplant.
The experts managing the health conditions are coming from Makerere University College of Health Sciences and other surgeons from other facilities.
Dr. Norbert Orwotho, a consultant surgeon of orthopedic and spine surgery, said there is little awareness among the communities, adding that such camps create awareness of the services offered at Mulago National Referral Hospital.
Patients speak out
“Some of the districts where we stay do not have such services and most of us end up visiting herbalists, by the time we come to the hospital it is too late,” Nabirye a two-year-old with a broken limb said.
“My mother has been suffering from a complication that I don’t understand, she cannot swallow any food she only takes fluids, but it was not until l came here that I discovered that she has gastrointestinal disorders,” Fred Ahumuza, a caretaker of the 79-year-old, said.
