Mityana patients using anti-malaria drugs for every illness
Patients in a queue during a public health outreach activity at Kakindu Community Hall in Kakindu Town Council, Mityana District on Saturday. PHOTO BY STEPHEN OTAGE
What you need to know:
- On why they chose the Kakindu community, Mr Sekaja said a survey done last year around the country to find out which community needed such an intervention, Kakindu which is a few kilometers away from the city was the most deserving.
MITYANA. Medical experts have asked their counterparts in Mityana District to step up inspection of pharmacies and clinics operating in the area and cautioned them against the risks of inappropriate medication prescriptions.
While addressing journalists during a health camp organised by Kampala Medical Chambers at Kakindu Community Hall in Kakindu Town Council on Saturday, Dr Jerry Namirembe Valerian said most patients they attended to confessed that whenever they visit clinics and pharmacies for treatment of simple ailments such as cough, flu, headache and backache, they are instead given malaria drugs for treatment.
Untrained, not qualified
Dr Namirembe who headed the team observed: “It means either the people running the clinics and pharmacies dispensing the drugs are not trained, or these facilities are not inspected to ensure that they are being run by qualified personnel.”
She explained that they received rampant complaints of backache from patients who turned up for the free medical camp which he said “cannot be a sign of malaria but possibly spending longer hours while digging and on other errands”.
Needed intervention
Mr Julius Sekaja, the president Rotaract Club of Kampala North explained that they partnered with Kampala Medical Chambers and the International Health Sciences University who provided them with medical doctors to screen for general diseases and carry out dental checkups. Uganda Cares provided counsellors who screened and tested the patients for HIV/Aids.
On why they chose the Kakindu community, Mr Sekaja said a survey done last year around the country to find out which community needed such an intervention, Kakindu which is a few kilometers away from the city was the most deserving. It is highly populated with the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates, early pregnancies and marriages, yet health facilities are too few to serve the community.
“We have started fundraising for a small health centre of about Shs80m which we shall construct in a place that we shall be shown, because we feel the impact of this intervention will be bigger because of the large population here,” he said.
