Aga Khan University to open its campus in Kampala next month
The artistic impression of the Aga Khan University Kampala Campus. The construction works was commissioned in Nakawa, Kampala on December 27, 2023. PHOTOS/FRANK BAGUMA
What you need to know:
- Mr Khalani advised Ugandans aged above 40 years to take advantage of the facility to go and carry out full body checks at least once a year, so that if there are any developing sicknesses, they can be detected early and treated in time.
Aga Khan University says it is opening the Nakawa-based campus mid-next month. The management will also be breaking ground for the construction of the teaching hospital in July, as it starts admitting direct-entry nursing students this year.
In an interview with the Monitor on May 9, Mr Rashid Khalani, the chief executive officer at the Aga Khan University Hospital, said since the opening of the Nakawa Specialty Clinic last year, they have been studying the Ugandan market and much as they have encountered a few challenges, the university building and the students’ hostel are complete.
“The university building is up and the students’ hostel is up. We are opening in mid-June, and we shall also be doing the ground-breaking for the teaching hospital in July, which should take two years to complete,” he said. He explained that currently the university boasts a population of 300 students in Old Kampala, most of whom are in-service nurses who are upgrading. He also revealed that the hostel will be occupied by foreign students.
The teaching hospital will have a 101-bed capacity initially, but it will be increased when the demand rises. Asked to explain how the hospital’s presence in Kenya has impacted the medical sector in the country and what Uganda stands to benefit, he said Aga Khan Hospital was established in Kenya in 1958.
It was then converted into a teaching hospital 20 years ago with academic programmes such as school of nursing and midwifery, media and a research institute, which birthed the idea of starting a similar hospital in Kampala. Today, the hospital carries out medical camps that reach out to more than 120,000 people who cannot afford treatment. They also carry out continuous medical education and training for doctors.
Regional impact
Their presence in Kenya has also significantly reduced the number of patients seeking specialised care outside East Africa and they intend to bring more specialised doctors to train Ugandan doctors in modern skills as well as start training degree nurses in modern medicine.
Mr Khalani advised Ugandans aged above 40 years to take advantage of the facility to go and carry out full body checks at least once a year, so that if there are any developing sicknesses, they can be detected early and treated in time.
Services at new hospital
Mr Khalani said that since the opening of the Nakawa campus hospital, they have been able to introduce specialised laboratory services, neurophysiology, obstetrics and gynaecology, internal medicine and other specialities in medical oncology, chemotherapy and treatment of kidney diseases. They have also introduced an electronic patient medical information system.
