Mukono to acquire referral hospital

As part of preparations to get Mukono a district referral hospital, construction of a $500,000 HIV/Aids clinic and a sh150m 20-bed maternity wing will be completed in March this year.

The fully-fledged HIV/Aids clinic which will serve as a regional centre for greater Mukono (Buikwe, Mukono, Kayunga and Buvuma districts) is being constructed and furnished by Makerere University Walter Reed Project (MUWRP), while the maternity wing work is a pledge by President Museveni.

Mukono doesn't have a district referral hospital since Kawolo was taken by Buikwe district when the latter was curved out of Mukono in 2009.

Patients have been dependent on private-not-for-profit (PNFP) Naggalama hospital run by the catholic diocese of Lugazi.

Additional services to be accessed at the new facilities include immunization, safe male circumcision (SMC), antenatal and postnatal care and other simple ailments.

Mukono municipality health officer, Dr. Kkonde (L) and the Town Clerk Ahimbisibwe(R) at the site of the new HIV/Aids centre under construction.

Mukono municipality health officer, Dr. Anthony Kkonde on Saturday conducted the town clerk, Innocent Ahimbisibwe around the complex to view stages so far reached, in preparation of the official opening by President Museveni on a date yet to be determined.

Ahimbisibwe told the New Vision that the maternity wing constructed with funds from the Local Government Management Services Development Programme (LGMSDP) is expected to decongest the existing 10-bed facility.

"On average, the facility which is at Health Centre IV level handles 18 mothers a day with five to six of them theatre cases, who have to be admitted for monitoring, and the extension is going to offer a great relief," Ahimbisibwe said.

The municipality health officer Dr. Kkonde said the facility which is a core health centre IV, is to have three doctors unlike the usual one doctor at such facilities, adding that this will offer better services especially in emergency response.

He also said that the HIV/Aids centre is to serve as a hub for tuberculosis (TB) treatment, and that it will be fitted with fully automated equipment to be able to expedite services to the expanded patient load.

"Today we handle over 6,000 HIV/Aids clients whom we attend to in tents, and with the completion of this unit, we shall have new renovations which will make it a model for districts countrywide," Dr. Kkonde said.