Voters in Iganga urged President Yoweri Museveni to purchase specialized medical equipment for Iganga General Hospital. Speaking at Museveni’s final campaign rally in Busoga, the voters said that it could deter unnecessary referrals to private hospitals.
The L.C.V chairperson of Iganga district, Ezra Gabula, noted that the X-ray machine broke down seven years ago and has yet to be repaired.
Gabula also noted that, even if it were to be repaired, the films used by this X-ray are no longer supplied by the National Medical Stores.
This state of affairs, Gabula said, would further frustrate patients and force them to seek X-ray services in private medical facilities, nonetheless.
Gabula said that Iganga general hospital is located along the major transnational highway, connecting Uganda to Kenya, making it a prime recipient of accident victims, most of whom require X-ray services. He asked the NRM Presidential candidate to find the funds needed to buy another X-ray machine.
The Iganga district National Resistance Movement-NRM chairperson, Abubaker Walubi, revealed that, much as the government constructed an oxygen plant for Iganga general hospital, they lack the required transformer to operationalize it.
Walubi said that, being an ardent recipient of critically injured accident victims, most of them require oxygen support, which is largely sourced from Jinja hospital.
Walubi noted that, construction of the oxygen plant was a relief whose construction was completed early this year, but they lack the three-phase transformer to operationalize it.
The 1st deputy premier, Rebecca Kadaga, challenged Museveni to expedite efforts to upgrade Iganga hospital to a regional referral in the area.
She said the hospital has become a one-stop center for over five neighboring districts without hospitals.
Kadaga said that this upgrade, coupled with the operationalization of both the X-ray and oxygen plant, will ease quality healthcare services for all.
Museveni, in his response, stated that he had taken note of the prevailing healthcare challenges and he was committed to working on them in due course.
Meanwhile, residents equally raised their plight of how the lack of specialized healthcare services, like X-rays, has forced them to incur more costs.
Irene Aliba noted that she broke her left leg in a road accident early this year, but the hospital lacked a functional X-ray, forcing her to seek the service from a private medical facility.
Aliba says that she lacked the 80,000 Shillings required for X-ray at the time, delaying her surgery by two weeks.
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