Leaders in Kisoro District have renewed calls for the government to upgrade Chahafi Health Centre IV into a community hospital to address gaps in healthcare services in Bufumbira East Constituency and neighbouring areas.
The leaders made the call on Monday during the commissioning of a renovated maternity ward at the facility in Chahafi Town Council by the United States Embassy Kampala Charge d’Affaires, Mikael Peter Cleverley.
The maternity ward was renovated at a cost of Shs400 million with funding from the United States government.
The leaders said upgrading the health centre would enable it to provide specialised services to thousands of residents who depend on the facility, including patients from neighbouring areas and across the border in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The facility in-charge, Dr Felex Barekye, said the health centre serves more than 17,000 people from different areas, including patients from the DRC.
He said the upgrade would improve access to healthcare and enable the facility to handle a wider range of medical conditions.
Dr Barekye said the health centre already has equipment such as oxygen concentrators and autoclave machines, but requires additional investment to improve service delivery.
“We need this facility to be upgraded into a community hospital because of the number of people it serves and the services required by the community,” Dr Barekye said.
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The mayor of Chahafi Town Council, Hardad Nkunzimana, said previous efforts to have the health centre upgraded had stalled following the death of former State Minister for Defense and Veteran Affairs Sarah Mateke and the defeat of former Bufumbira East MP Dr James Nsaba Buturo in the past general election.
He appealed to current area leaders to revive the matter and engage the Ministry of Health on the proposed upgrade.
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Meanwhile, the Kisoro District Health Officer, Dr Bosco Muhangi, said the renovated maternity ward would help improve maternal and child health services in the area.
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The United States Embassy Kampala Charge d’Affaires, Cleverley, reaffirmed the US government’s commitment to supporting Uganda’s health sector through partnerships with American companies and other stakeholders.
He said the partnership goes beyond government-to-government cooperation, with US companies supporting Uganda in areas such as HIV prevention, disease diagnosis and tuberculosis control.
He cited Gilead Sciences’ launch earlier this year of lenacapavir, an HIV prevention treatment, as one of the latest contributions by American companies to Uganda’s health sector.
Cleverley also highlighted a partnership with US pharmaceutical company Abbott, which he said recently donated 100 diagnostic machines to support access to testing services in rural communities.
He said the machines would enable women in hard-to-reach areas to receive tests and results within about an hour, reducing delays associated with transporting samples to distant laboratories.
He also cited the contribution of Binn X-ray, which he said had been supporting tuberculosis prevention efforts in Uganda over the past year.
Cleverley said such partnerships demonstrate the role of the private sector in complementing government efforts to expand access to healthcare, particularly for people living in rural and underserved communities.
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The Kisoro Resident District Commissioner, Hajji Badru Sebyalla, urged health workers to improve service delivery and fight corruption in the health sector.
He also asked the US government to consider supporting Kisoro in addressing challenges arising from instability in the DRC, which he said has affected trade and household incomes in the district.
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