Health ministry officials assess NCDs interventions at Atutur Hospital
Dr Daniel Kyabayinze (right), the Director Public Health at the Ministry of Health at Atutur General Hospital in Kumi district. (Photos by Donald Kirya)
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A team of medical experts led by a delegation from the health ministry has today (August 20) toured Atutur General Hospital in Kumi district to assess the progress of essential interventions in the fight against Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
The Ministry of Health team was joined by officials from the Uganda Initiative for Integrated Management of Non-Communicable Diseases (UINCD) and specialists from various medical fields.
The tour is aimed at assessing the progress of the Package of Essential NCD interventions (PEN) and PEN-Plus implementation, including the diagnosis and management of NCDs; the functionality and operations of PEN and PEN-Plus clinics; patient documentation and follow-up systems; community engagement and health education efforts; and the establishment and functionality of peer support groups.
Additionally, the support supervision will focus on medicines, supply chain, laboratory services, and diagnostic equipment while verifying the availability and stock levels of essential medicines and supplies and also identifying supply chain gaps affecting service delivery.
PEN-Plus is a WHO Africa regional strategy for the integrated health service delivery for severe, chronic non-communicable diseases like sickle cell disease, rheumatic and congenital heart disease, type 1 diabetes, and asthma at general hospitals.
The delegation is led by the Director of Public Health at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Daniel Kyabayinze; the Commissioner of the NCD department at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Charles Akia Oyoo; the Assistant Commissioner for NCDs at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Gerald Mutungi; and the UINCD country director, Dr. Isaac Ssinabulya.
In attendance are the regional and policy advisors from the NCD Initiative Poverty Network, which funds PEN-Plus implementation in Uganda, Dr. Natnael Abebe and Dr. Nancy Mugisha, as well as Eunsun Jeong, a health specialist from the United Nations Children’s Fund.
Other specialists on the tour include cardiologists and a nurse from the Uganda Heart Institute; a diabetologist and a sickle cell specialist from Mulago Hospital; an endocrinologist from Rubaga Hospital; a lung health expert from the Makerere Lung Institute; a psychiatrist from the Ministry of Health’s Mental Health Division; as well as partners from National Medical Stores, National Health Laboratory and Diagnostic Services, Central Public Health Laboratories, and Uganda NCD Alliance (UNCDA); and persons living with NCDs.
The programme manager at UNCDA, Christopher Kwizera, said the support supervision helps to get a feel of the NCD services delivered to the public from a frontline health provider's perspective. The exercise motivates lower-level health workers and improves care since some challenges are responded to on site.
Atutur General Hospital is a government-owned hospital in the Eastern Region of Uganda, established in 1969 with a bed capacity of 100 beds, located along the Mbale-Soroti highway, approximately 10 kilometers from Kumi town.
The hospital provides curative, preventative, health-promotion, and rehabilitative care through outpatient, inpatient, and community health services.
The hospital has a catchment of 32,500 with a monthly average of 10,000 patients. It serves districts of Kumi, Bukedea, Paliisa, Ngora, and Katakwi.
In 2023, the Ministry of Health, in partnership with UINCD, established a PEN-Plus clinic at the hospital after training health workers on the management of severe chronic NCDs. The PEN-Plus clinic has enrolled over 2,228 patients, while the PEN clinic stands at 2,663 as of June 2026, with 70% of the active patients aged below 18 years.