Kisoro’s Health Boosted With Mini-Hospitals

By Charles WendoThree mini-hospitals, eleven grade III health centres and an office block for the health department are to be constructed in Kisoro district beginning next month.The state minister for gender and culture and MP for Bufumbira South, Sam Bitangaro, said the construction is part of a $14m project funded with a loan from the Spanish government, to improve health infrastructure in Kisoro and Kamuli districts.He said the sites had already been handed over to the contractor, Dragados, for construction.The grade III health centres, to be located at sub-county level, will each have a maternity unit, outpatient department and a small ward. The mini-hospitals will in addition have a theatre and at least a qualified doctor capable of performing a surgical operation. They will be located in Rubuguri, Chahafi and Kisoro town.“Given the fact that for some time we had inadequate health facilities, the people of Kisoro are very grateful to the NRM government for this development,” Bitangaro said.“This will go a long way in addressing the problem of accessibility to health services.”On July 30, the Ministry of Health officially handed over the construction sites to Dragados in the presence of the district’s political and civic leaders. Construction work is expected to last two years.“It is government’s plan to ensure that there is a health facility at every parish. Under this programme, government expects the civil society and local communities through local initiatives to put up the facilities at parish level. Then government will come to give equipment and staffing. This way we hope the basic health needs of the population will be addressed,” Bitangaro explained.Ends