The Bwama Island Health Centre on Lake Bunyonyi makes free health care available to all – giving relief from curable ailments and helping to fight some of the developing world’s biggest killers.The clinic has made a huge impact on the local community and is the primary care provider in the Lake area.

82,354

people screened for HIV/AIDS

51,906

outpatients treated in the clinic

19,866

patients treated in outreach

1,234

attended family planning sessions

* figures from year ending 31 July 2018

How it Works

The Bwama Health Centre is a fine example of international and local co-operation.

The land was donated by the Kigezi Diocese and Edirisa UK has constructed and maintains most of the facility, while the Ugandan Department of Health provides nursing staff, some medicines and regularly visits and supervises.

Edirisa UK provides ongoing support across a variety of areas - through the donation of equipment, funding outreach programmes, buying emergency medicines, running surgical camps, purchasing mother and baby kits, offering mobile kitchens and much more.

We have a wonderful relationship with The Tropical Medicine Department at the Ljubljana University, Slovenia, who provide medics and doctors to work at the facility on a regular basis. They bring equipment and medicines and provide training and outreach clinics.

Together we are stronger.

Daily we examined on average forty to fifty patients during our regular hours, with emergency cases and deliveries at any times in the day or night.

During our time at the island we have had quite a lot of baby deliveries now that the maternity ward is operational. However many women still chose to give birth at home, which is partly the reason for a high perinatal children mortality rate. The clinic is offering ante natal visits and maternity aftercare, plus family planning, which is making a big difference. All these services are offered free of charge.

The outpatients clinic, built by Edirisa UK and equipped by us, has three examination rooms; a small laboratory with equipment for basic tests; pharmacy; storage room; room for dental services and a room for measuring vital signs of the patients. Medicines are provided by the government and part by the funds gathered in Slovenia. Power for the clinic is from solar panels which is slowly being increased. There is now enough power for the use of our dental chair, which we brought with us from Slovenia."

Visiting Slovenian Medic

Clinic Services

Outpatient Clinic

TB screening & management

Minor surgery

Dental care

Eye care

HIV screening & counselling

ART treatment

Medicine dispensing

Wound treatment

STD screening

Medical surgical camps

Diagnostics

Nutrition assessment

Laboratory

Malaria testing

HIV testing

TB testing

HCG testing

H-Pylori testing

BAT testing

Widal testing

Urinalysis testing

Stool analysis

HB testing

Blood group testing

Syphilis testing

STDS screening

Hepatitis testing

Maternity

Antenatal clinics

Family planning

Deliveries

Postnatal clinics

Immunisations

Blood pressure

Body weight analysis

Mosquito net distribution

IPT 1,2,3,4

Administration of FEFO

EMTCT services

Comp. feeding package

New baby kit

Community Clinics

Home visits

HIV screening

Nutrition education

Nutrition assessment

TB screening

TB contact tracing

ART patient follow up

Health education talks

School nutrition

School hygiene

Sanitation and hygiene

Nutrition gardens

Training of the VHTS

Cooking demonstrations

Timeline

2011

The Partnership Begins

Edirisa UK partners with the Department of Health in Kabale District, the Kigezi Diocese and the Tropical Medicine Department at Ljubljana University, Slovenia to build and staff a new medical facility at Lake Bunyonyi

2011

2012

Health Centre Opens

Late in the year Edirisa UK completes the construction of the outpatients clinic and the health centre begins taking the first patients.

2013 - 2015

Outreach

Doctors and medical students from Slovenia start providing outreach clinics at schools and villages in the Kabale district where they not only examine patients but also teach how to prevent diseases by practising good hygiene, dental health, nutrition and HIV prevention.

Clinic staff start mobile kitchens to teach villagers how to make nutritional meals with local produce and to emphasise the importance of good nutrition. Mobile kitchens are funded by Edirisa UK.

2016

Wards Completed

Construction of the maternity and overnight wards is completed in September.

Edirisa UK and the medics from the University of Ljubljana worked together to complete the construction. The maternity ward opened with five beds and in the first year 146 babies were born there.

Edirisa UK and Monde par la Main/Give a Hand partner to provide Mother and Baby gifts (consisting of a baby bath, towel, blanket, outfit, shampoo, soap and cream) to mothers giving birth at Bwama.

2017

Staff Housing

Edirisa UK raises funds to build much needed staff houses.

Masters student at the University of Ljubljana, Danaja Vastic, designs a staff housing complex and travels to Uganda with three of her fellow students to supervise the start of the building programme. Using locally sourced building materials the local workers were trained in some new building techniques. The staff houses all have running water collected in a 30,000 litre water harvesting tank, solar power, gas hobs and the use of a four-stance Ecosan latrine.

2018

Extra Services

Local tourist lodge, Byoona Amagara, donates a motor boat ambulance to the Health Centre. New beds for the maternity ward and a delivery bed are provided by Edirisa UK.

The first "surgical camp" is held at Bwama using 2 rooms in the overnight ward. Dr Robert Mugarura operates on 25 local adults and children with operable abnormalities using specialist equipment supplied by Edirisa UK.