IGANGA, UGANDA: At least Shs 14.5M was raised towards the construction of a Tuberculosis(TB) ward at Iganga district hospital located at Nakavule in Iganga town.
The money was solicited from selling T-shirts, Kits and tickets for the TB run fundraising drive which was conducted on Saturday.
The run which was flagged off by Busoga Kingdom’s Prime Minister Dr Joseph Muvawala Mutamba Nsekere, at Iganga municipal council primary school, was attended by a number of dignitaries from the district and beyond.
Dr Muvawala pledged total support for the cause citing that the Kingdom led by the Kyabazinga has always emphasized subjects to fight diseases which most times results to absolute poverty.
The State Minister for Agriculture Hon Bwino Fred Kyakulaga tasked corporate companies and organizations to respond to the cause citing that the only way of returning funds to their customers is through fundraising for community permanent project in sectors like health.
“I particularly invite the general public to contribute via our account in DFCU bank to ensure that the funds are safe. However, I also call upon corporates in this area especially the sugar manufacturers i.e. Mayuge sugar limited, Kaliro sugar factory, Bugiri sugar factory, Kakira sugar factory, among others like Rwenzori rare earth metals, the banks to support this cause,”Hon Bwino said before revealing that a special day will be organized for corporates where they will also showcase their products as well as fundraising for the TB ward.
The RDC Iganga Mr Wandera Sadala said that the ward will help to avoid continuous spread of TB since the patients will be treated in a special ward unlike currently where patients of various illnesses share the wards.
However, the LCV district chairperson Iganga Mr Gabula Ezera requested Hon members of parliament in Iganga district to combine efforts and demand for an upgrade of the health facility to a regional referral hospital, something which the woman MP Hon Kauma Sauda Alibaawo said it’s in pipeline and that they have since visited the Ministry of health several times on the same.
“I want to let you know that we started on the matter of our hospital upgrade and we have so far visited the health ministry several times and the plans are moving on. This is because the facility handles a large number of patients compared to the facility-allocated budget,” Hon Kauma said.
The MP Kigulu south, Hon Milton Muwuma, one of the run organizers confirmed that the hospital already allocated land for the TB ward and that they lobbied partners to support the construction but they were tasked to make a commitment by presenting between 70M to 100M before setting up the multimillion shillings ward at the general hospital which is estimated to at least half a billion. Busoga has two facilities which handle TB cases i.e. Jinja regional referral hospital and Iganga district hospital, however Hon Muwuma says that Iganga gets around 70% cases compared to Jinja meaning that there is need to support the cause wholesomely.
The NRM district chairperson Iganga, Hajji Walubi Abubakar, who also steered the organizations confirmed to Daily Express that the run registered success by among others creating awareness to the public about TB existence, how and where to seek treatment.
“I am happy that in this event, we have managed to collect at least UGX 14.5M both in cash and pledges. However, we need at least UGX 100M to have a start and it’s at this point that I invite all well-wishers of this cause to contribute particularly the general public and the corporates in the area.
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