Blog - Ugandan Ministry Of Health and National Malaria Control Program

A dozen people from the Church of the Redeemer in Boston spent ten days in Soroti, Uganda in late June. Dorsey McConnell, the President of Pilgrim's Board, is Rector of Church of the Redeemer, led the mission team.

One of the projects accomplished by part of the team was a medical mission at a clinic in the town of Amuria. In 2009, Dr. Christian Sampson, a surgeon from Boston who specializes in hand and plastic surgery, spent about a week performing surgeries in this Amuria government clinic. The clinic is very basic, and has a staff which includes an anesthesiologist, but no skilled surgeons. This year, Dr. Sampson brought medical equipment and his surgical assistant. His visit was eagerly anticipated by prospective patients in area who could travel to the clinic. The Boston team, which included Dr. Sampson's daughters Phoebe and Emily, travelled north several hours, to Amuria each day. Each long trip was accompanied by several Pilgrim staff members from Beacon Medical Center in Soroti.

Day 1 was spent assessing patients for surgery. About 35 surgeries were performed in all, and the clinic staff in Amuria did the follow-up after Dr. Sampson left. As is clear from the photos, the setting for medical procedures is quite rudimentary, compared to US standards. On the 2009 medical trip, Dr. Sampson removed bullets from a man who had been injured several years before in the civil violence.

Thank you to Kristin Matchett, Dr. Sampson's assistant from Boston, and Phoebe and Emily Sampson, and all the team from Church of the Redeemer who participated in this trip. Watch for more blogs reporting on the projects accomplished during that week in Soroti.

We at Pilgrim are especially grateful to Dr. Sampson for his donation of time and expertise, but most of all for his generosity of heart. Many Amuria residents will remember the mzungu (Ugandan for "white person") doctor from Boston who spent days in their clinic giving his skill to make them healthier.

Surgical Team in Amuria

Thanks to Kristin Matchett, Dr. Chris Sampson's surgical assistant, for these photos. The surgical team performed over 35 surgeries over 10 days.

Related Links: Beacon Medical Centre

By God's grace, Pilgrim successfully completed its second Move on Malaria campaign in the Kumi district of the Teso sub region in northeastern Uganda in September. Kumi is one of the seven districts that form the Teso sub region, and has an estimated population of 358,400.

In March 2009, a review of health facility records indicated that malaria was responsible for 37% of all outpatient clinic visits in health units and close to 50% of all hospital admissions. In the age group 0-4 years, almost 70% of admissions were attributable to malaria, with malaria causing 10% of all deaths. A baseline epidemiological survey conducted by Pilgrim in the region showed a malaria prevalence of 37% in children under age 16, and 23% across all age groups.

In partnership with and under the direction of the Uganda Ministry of Health and National Malaria Control Program, Pilgrim carried out a district-wide malaria treatment campaign over the course of six weeks. All children ages 16 and under were given a presumptive course of World Health Organization approved anti-malarial medication. Adults ages 16 and above were tested for malaria with a rapid test and given appropriate treatment if found to be positive. Over 250,000 people were attended to by our medical teams. Indoor residual spraying of insecticide (IRS) was conducted by the Ministry of Health concurrently the medical treatment. Although data is still being processed, preliminary results from the IRS campaign show a remarkably high coverage rate, with over 80% of the huts in the district treated.

We are now in the surveillance phase, closely watching malaria trends in the district. Results so far are encouraging. Local health centers are seeing a notable drop in malaria cases and deaths due to malaria. We will carry out a follow-up survey in one to two months to measure the impact on malaria prevalence in the district, and then begin preparing for the next round of Move on Malaria in the district.

Related Links: Move On Malaria

The first intervention of Move On Malaria (MOM) in Katakwi was a complete success. The trend of Malaria continues to go down dramatically in the region, and the hospital has been almost empty for the first time in years!

Watch the video to learn more about this intervention.

Video - Move On Malaria, Katakwi

Pilgrim's Move on Malaria intervention successfully dropped the levels of malaria in the district of Katakwi in Northeastern Uganda. Watch the intervention and testimonials from locals.

Related Links: Move On Malaria