In order to assist the Government of Uganda, Local and International agencies are extending healthcare services to the refugees.
A team of medical students from Mbarara university of science and technology (MUST) delivered health care services to children, women, men and elderly refugees during the weekend.
This was done during a community outreach to Nakivaale Health Centre III situated within Nakivaale Refugee settlement under the first mile project 2.0 Ubuntu Project.
The purpose of the study was to deliver awareness on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and also providing a baseline survey for the refugees to know their health statuses.
The multidisciplinary team of 70 members comprised of Nursing, Pharmacy, medicine and surgery and Medical laboratory students to offer screening, health assessment, drug prescriptions among others.
Over 300 refugees turned up for free services offered by MUST such as Body mass index (BMI) checkup, family planning services, HIV testing and counselling services, Hepatitis B testing. The refugees included Rwandese, Congolese, Burundians and Somalis.
According to the team leader, Dr. Grace Nambooze from the Faculty of Medicine, the turn up was good and the community members (refugees) were positive towards the services offered to them.
‘’We have had a good turn-up and cooperative group of community members, and a lot has been shared with them. The focus of this group was to sensitize the refugees and the locals who reside nearby about the prevention and treatment of Non communicable diseases which are among the leading causes of death in Uganda. Several conditions have been reported to our team and advise was given to them accordingly through drug prescriptions. the students have been committed to serve the community and we encourage them to keep up the spirit,’’ Dr. Grace stated.
In her observation, more women turned up than men, she based on this to encourage men to go to health centres and know their health status since a healthy life is a right for all.
She concluded by thanking the management of MUST and partners which included Medical Teams International, Reproductive health Uganda for the support rendered to make the community outreach a success.
One of the Congolese beneficiaries who preferred secrecy said that a friend informed her about the outreach few days ago and she had to prepare in advance. She further revealed that on arrival, the doctors (medical students) attended to her very well, screening, medical examination and getting drug prescriptions. She was however worried about not being able to get the prescribed drugs because they were not available at the Health facility.
In response, Dr. Barbra Nekesa, a medical expert from Medical Teams International, stated that the pharmacy is always open on Tuesdays and that’s when they receive drugs depending on the consumption level available.
She thanked MUST team for the work done and assured that drugs will be available for all the prescriptions given to the patients apart from those with specialized cases.
On the next outreach, Emmanuel Mangeni, a nursing student in the department of Nursing’s completion program, emphasized that psychologists, Psychiatrists, and Ophthalmologists must also attend.
The majority of people were stressed and only required medication or someone with whom to talk to.
Some people would break down when someone spoke their language, while others could be reluctant to disclose their ailments because of their experiences in the past.
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