Teso – Soroti Regional Referral Hospital is currently seeking for over Shs 100m to aid shipment of Medical equipment worth Shs 1.2 Billion from United States.
The consignment comes as a donation from Project C.U.R.E one of the world’s largest distributors of donated medical supplies and equipment to over 135 countries globally.
The above medical relief follows the dire need of medical equipment discovered at the Hospital by Ateker International Development Organization (A.I.D.O).
Speaking The Tower Post during the site visit by Project C.U.R.E technical team at Soroti Regional Referral Hospital together with AIDO Network International, Dr. Micheal Mwanga the Hospital Director said that, whereas project C.U.R.E through AIDO Network International have given them a consignment of medical equipment, they are stuck with shipment cost worth USD 30,000.
He said that amidst the existing medical constraints and in adequate Human Resource, Soroti Hospital serves an overwhelming number of 2.5m people across Teso Sub Region and about 10-15 C-section operations are conducted on daily basis.
“Despite spending about Shs. 1Billion for procurement of equipment in the past three years, the Hospital needs over 4Billion shillings for purchasing more medical equipment and establishing adequate infrastructure in the facility”. Mwanga told TMC.
Steven Opeitum the Chairman board, AIDO Network Uganda also said, the decision to write to Project C.U.R.E came after they discovered that the hospital was over constraint in terms of medical equipments yet they handle over whooping 2.5 Million people.
“As AIDO, we discovered that Soroti Hospital is facing serious medical constraints to serve the overwhelming number of patients across Teso Sub region and we had to quickly get in touch with Project C.U.R.E who positively responded to our request”.
Soroti Regional Referral Hospital is apparently faced by a challenge of frequent break down of existing obsolete equipment.
This situation has contributed to the Hospital’s in ability to respond to emergencies and inconsistent Radiological services at the Hospital due to high costs of maintaining the available equipment.
Lilli LeBeau the Assessment Manager for Project C.U.R.E notes that the medical equipment that has been offered to Soroti RRH has a set medical equipments worth USD 350,000.
She said there decision to hand the consignment to the hospital was informed after they received a request from AIDO asking them to support the struggling regional hospital.
“It’s upon such a background that we willingly offered to extend support to Soroti Hospital.”
According to Lilly, as Project C.U.R.E their main priority is to provide health care support and hope to patients with an objective of addressing the staggering shortage of medical resources around the world.
“We annually ship over 200 containers of medical equipment and supplies desperately needed to save lives in Hospitals and clinics in resource limited countries”.
Despite the fact that AIDO has aided the acquisition of the awaited medical consignment, Soroti Hospital Administration faces a burden of shipping the equipment from United States to Uganda at a cost of about $30,000.
Stella Apolot Isodo, the Woman Mp Ngora District who doubles as the Spokesperson for Teso Parliamentary Group (TPG) has made a commitment that as members of Parliament, they will have to convene for a discussion before presenting their stand regarding the matter.
“I am so glad for this support from Project C.U.R.E and AIDO, but as legislators of Teso, we shall get time to discuss about this issue and see how we can help”.
However Julius Emigu the Mp Ochero County in Kaberamaido District appeals to his fellow legislators to embrace this development for the good of the electorate.
“Looking at the current constraints at the Hospital, I want to whole heartedly appreciate Project C.U.R.E and Aido for identifying Soroti as one of the beneficiaries around the world and I want to call upon everyone to come in with any help since this benefits the entire Teso Sub region”.
Soroti Regional Referral Hospital is a government Hospital that offers both general and specialized services that include Rehabilitative, Preventive, Curative, Diagnostic among other healthcare services.
