Kamuli in drive to fight non-communicable diseases

KAMULI - Kamuli district council authorities entered a partnership with a non-governmental organisation to promote the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

The five-year partnership was approved during a special council meeting at the district council hall on January 21, 2026, chaired by speaker Charles Mpalabule and attended by Smart Africa Village Development Consortium (SADO) officials, led by the country director Dr Nelson Muzira.

The motion was moved by the outgoing district LC5 vice-chairperson, who is also the acting district chairperson, Sarah Sambya and unanimously seconded by councillors.

Late last year, health minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero said there is an urgency for unified action in fighting communicable diseases (CDs) and NCDs, a growing double burden of disease in Uganda.

“Health promotion and disease control are not the responsibility of the health sector alone, but require active collaboration across sectors,” she said.

The Kamuli project, running from 2025 to 2030, is expected to be implemented by SADO in partnership with the health ministry, Makerere University, RCF, EBG and the University of California, according to Muzira.

Under the arrangement, he said SADO, with financial assistance from development partners, will construct a diagnostic and imaging centre of excellence at Kamuli Hospital, plus laboratories equipped with modern facilities at 12 health centres.

Also, a standard mortuary with a holding capacity of at least 30 bodies will be built at the hospital as well as a VIP latrine and a fence around the hospital premises, he said.

Decongestion initiatives

Muzira, who expressed happiness over the council’s decision to approve the partnership, said once completed, the initiative will help decongest Jinja Regional Referral Hospital and Mulago National Referral Hospital.

He revealed that after Kamuli, similar centres will be established in other districts across Busoga, adding that studies conducted in 2021 showed Busoga as having the highest burden of NCDs, followed by Elgon and Rwenzori regions.

The most common NCDs in the region include diabetes, hypertension, sickle cell disease, and cancer, he disclosed.

A Ministry of Health national risk factors survey (2014) and SADO baseline studies in 2023 found that about 25% of Ugandan adults have hypertension and require treatment, and only about 20% of these are aware of their predicament, Muzira said.

He added that 1.5% of all adults are diabetic and only about 50% are diagnosed while between 10 and 20% of children, especially in urban areas have asthma.

“The project aims to help the Government boost healthcare service delivery. We want to strengthen NCD responses and diagnostic services by engaging the community, building health workers' capacity and establishing community-based networks for effective referrals,” he said.

Addressing the council meeting, the project co-ordinator in Busoga, Dr Asuman Basembeza, said the 2021 study also found that despite a high prevalence of NCDs, most health facilities lack proper infrastructure and equipment for diagnosis and treatment.

He regretted that, though 70% of illnesses that affect people in Uganda and Africa are preventable, there is a high rate of ignorance among the population.

Jowet Mukabya, the councillor for Bugulumbya sub-county, welcomed the initiative, noting that construction of a fence around the hospital will help keep away intruders and limit cases of theft of medicine and other medical supplies.

Christine Kaguna, the Butansi sub-county female councillor was particularly impressed with news of the construction of a new mortuary, saying the situation at the current one is appalling, with poor facilities.

Kamuli deputy Resident District Commissioner Adonia Mafumo lauded SADO for the support and called on district leaders and community members to give the project total support.

What are NCDs and why you should care?

NCDs are also known as lifestyle diseases because their risk factors are linked to how people live.

A total of 33% of deaths annually in Uganda are due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), according to the World Health Organisation, and for every Ugandan, the probability of dying prematurely from one of the four main NCDs is 22%.

The risk factors, include leading a sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diets, overconsumption of alcohol and smoking.

NCDs include diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic obstructive lung diseases and cancer. Such diseases that are not transmittable from person to person but instead develop over time. They are also chronic and do not have definite cures, although they can be managed.

The Uganda National Panel Survey 2018 and the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey show that Ugandans are becoming heavier(overweight and obesity) as a nation.

“It is also quite alarming to see from the data that 41% of non-pregnant women aged 15-49 have a high waist circumference above the cut-off that is considered healthy. This is a sign of abdominal adiposity, which is a key predisposing factor for diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancers, which in turn are strong drivers of NCD morbidity and mortality, which stands at 35% of all reported deaths,” health ministry commissioner of NCDs Dr Charles Oyoo Akiya said in 2024 during a conference in Kampala.