Cancer institute asks for help over limited space
Some of the tents housing needy patients at the Uganda Cancer Institute in Kampala. An official at the institute says there has been tremendous improvement in the outpatients treatment because they are able to get all their treatment per schedule. However, the tents are now worn out and given the return of heavy rains, the officials are calling for the construction of permanent structures. PHOTO | STEPHEN OTAGE
What you need to know:
- Some patients, who pitched camping tents at the hostel compound, could be seen pulling them out of muddy soil following the heavy rain since last week.
The Uganda Cancer Institute has asked government, well-wishers and civil society organisations to urgently intervene in providing better accommodation for more than 200 needy cancer patients currently sleeping in tents.
While receiving 50 double decker beds and 100 mattresses last Friday, Dr Jackson Orem, the executive director of Uganda Cancer institute, decried the need to provide permanent buildings to accommodate the ever-increasing cancer patients, who are currently camping in tents.
“We need a permanent structure to house these patients. These are not in-patients, they are out-patients who are coming from far. They do not have where to stay. With this, we can meet their appointment for continuation of care. If this is not there, the out-patients will miss their treatment,” he said.
In January, after this news paper published the state of accommodation facilities at the Cancer Care Hostel despite the donation of two temporary tents for the patients to sleep in, the Prime Minister, Ms Robinah Nabanjja, visited the hostel to see first-hand how the patients were living there. During her visit, she asked Uganda Cancer Institute management to list the priority requirements for the patients. Almost 10 months later, the facilities are only getting worse.
Donations
On Friday last week, when Upender Singh Rawat, the Indian High Commissioner to Uganda led staff of audit firm Grant Thornton Uganda, to donate beds and mattresses to the patients living in the tents, it was evident that the current weather conditions have taken a toll on the tarpaulin tents, which were pitched there a year ago. Some patients, who pitched camping tents at the hostel compound, could be seen pulling them out of muddy soil following the heavy rain since last week.
Ms Fatina Nakalembe, the lead clinical navigation nurse, said since the introduction of the tents to accommodate the needy patients last year, there has been tremendous improvement in their treatment outcomes because the patients are able to get all their treatment as per schedule. She added that previously, after exhausting their financial resources, the patients abandoned treatment because they could not afford transport between their homes and the hospital.
“Some patients would die during the rainy season due to low immunity. They were sleeping in the open and some patients would have their medical documents stolen but now, things have improved,” she said.
Mr Anil Patel, the managing partner of Grant Thonton, said after donating two tents for the patients last year, they were told that the patients need beddings, which they donated during their international corporate social responsibility day on Friday.
He added that they were going back to look into the request for permanent buildings.
