LRA war a health disaster Victims of war: Displaced children in a protected camp clamour for food. Overcrowding and malnutrition prevail By Caroline Lamwaka
In 2002, the number of patients admitted at Lacor, Pabo and Opit health centres in Gulu exceeded 25,000. This was a sharp increase from 19,000 in 2001. Dr. Bruno Corrado, the deputy director of Lacor Hospital, attributes this increase to the Kony war. He says that due to insecurity, the living conditions of a large part of the population in Gulu had deteriorated and more people got sick. Children constitute 64% of all admissions. The most common illnesses are malaria, diarrhoea, colds, coughs, malnutrition among children, and HIV/AIDS related illnesses. Most of these are related to poor hygiene, overcrowding and poor feeding. �The need for health services in the district is so great that not even two big hospitals can cope. When life becomes hard, the first to suffer are children. These children are vulnerable to disease, malnutrition, poor hygiene and displacement,� says Corrado. At Lacor, children pay sh2000 for admission as flat rate, while adults pay sh25,000. This includes everything they might need during their stay in the hospital. Lacor, a missionary hospital, charges patients about 20% of the total cost of treatment. Government contributes 20% while donations, mostly from Italy, cover the remaining 60%. At the Gulu Government Hospital, patients are not required to pay. However, the Government funding is not sufficient to meet their requirements. The hospital has 250 beds but it has 350 to 400 in-patients at any one time. Improvements were made on the hospital from the mid 1990s and it resumed carrying out major operations after services were disrupted by insecurity. With the coming of medical consultants in 1999, there has been tremendous improvement in the delivery of services. The medical superintendent, Dr. Felix Kaducu says: �Most of the diseases we treat are communicable and preventable. They are related to aspects of poor sanitation and hygiene, malnutrition due to poor feeding, poverty and poor social life.� The hospital is understaffed and over-loaded. Kaducu says they have only half the recommended number of staff. This means the existing few are over-loaded. Because of the war, fewer medics are willing to come and serve in the district. �Those who are on the ground find that they are able to cope with the situation. They just need some support to be able to perform better,� says Kaducu. The Gulu Independent Hospital, which opened in September 2001, has boosted health services in the district, with new services that did not exist there before. Matthew Lomoro, marketing manager, says they are introducing new technologies to help women who cannot conceive naturally. �We are expecting that anytime from January 2003. If the staff have completed the different phases of training, then we will start. Also, we are in the final stages of installing the machines,� he says. However, insecurity in Gulu is drawing back some of their plans. �There are so many specialists we have engaged who would wish to work with us, but fear to come to Gulu. They include expatriates and Ugandans,� Lomoro says. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com
