ZOMBO DISTRICT LAUNCHES HEALTH OUTREACH TO BRIDGE RURAL CARE GAPS

By Mike Rwothomio
Zombo
 
Hundreds of women in Athuma Sub-County and surrounding areas stand to gain from a targeted two-day maternal and reproductive health outreach camp, set to deliver essential screening, diagnostic, and preventive services amid persistent healthcare access barriers in this underserved rural area.
 
The initiative, launching October 6-7 at Athuma Sub-County headquarters, focuses on antenatal assessments, postnatal evaluations, cancer screenings for breast and cervical malignancies, routine immunizations, HIV serology, hypertension monitoring, and diabetes screening.
 
Delivered by multidisciplinary teams of registered nurses, certified midwives, and clinical officers, the free-of-charge program aims to mitigate the scarcity of functional Health Centre III facility, which currently forces residents to travel long distances to access health care.
 
Zombo District Health Officer Dr. Mark Bramali emphasized the campaign's maternal-centric design, urging widespread participation to empower women as foundational pillars of community health. 
 
"This outreach is dedicated to our mothers because, as the adage reminds us, behind every successful man stands a resilient woman. Let us mobilize in large numbers to access these no-cost interventions," Dr. Bramali stated during a public address on local radio Saturday.
He noted the event's potential to alleviate financial strains for families, particularly those deferring spousal care due to remoteness.
 
Funded and coordinated by the Alatara Foundation, established in memory of the late Rt. Lt. Col. Pius Alitema, former Zombo Resident District Commissioner and the Nile Girl Forum, a community-based organization specializing in adolescent reproductive health support for teen pregnancies and menstrual hygiene provision, the camp addresses entrenched disparities.
 
Organizers anticipate robust attendance from Athuma and adjacent locales, including Aka, Warr, Zeu, Abanga, Jangokoro, and Zombo Town Council, to foster early detection and avert non-communicable disease progression.
 
Sister Christine, a Zombo District Health Department staff, extended an inclusive call to action: "Hosted at Athuma Sub-County headquarters, this initiative welcomes not just local residents but women from neighboring areas like Aka, Zeu, Warr, and Zombo Town Council. We invite all to partake in these vital, complimentary services."
 
Athuma Sub-County Councilor Francis Bolingo echoed the sentiment, decrying missed health care opportunities in the Sub County, recently carved from Jangokoro Sub-County without a dedicated Health Centre III. 
 
"We implore mothers not to forgo this proactive health management," Bolingo said, underscoring the camp's role in early disease surveillance, health literacy dissemination, and economic relief for low-resource households. 
 
He renewed appeals for a permanent mid-level facility, lamenting residents' protracted journeys for essential services.
 
Zombo District's 17 operational health units grapple with an overburdened caseload serving over 300,000 inhabitants, compounded by cross-border patient influxes from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
 
This strain amplifies vulnerabilities in a predominantly agrarian populace in Uganda , where maternal mortality lingers at 336 per 1,000 live births and under-five mortality at 64 per 1,000—figures starkly exceeding Sustainable Development Goal benchmarks, per a recent National Institute of Health analysis.
 
High out-of-pocket expenditures further erode household resilience, hindering equitable access to integrated primary care.
 
Dr. Bramali highlighted governmental strides in decentralizing services, including recent upgrades: Otheko Health Centre II to III in Paidha Sub-County; Amwonyu Health Centre II to III in Aka Sub-County; and Atyak Health Centre II to III in Atyak Sub-County.
 
"These enhancements, alongside ongoing refurbishments, are pivotal in extending quality care for our communities," he affirmed, signaling sustained commitments to improve health care systems in the district.
 
With Nyapea Hospital (a faith-based facility) and Warr Health Centre IV serving as the sole advanced healthcare providers in Zombo, supplemented by lower-level Health Centres III and II, this outreach represents one key reform aimed at curbing adverse health outcomes.
 
Recently, a medical camp organized by ophthalmologist Dr. Amos Nyathirombu in Warr Town Council saw hundreds of patients attended to, after thousands swarmed the area.