Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kyaka (Agenzia Fides) – Inadequate health services is only one of many challenges faced by the 16,200 refugees in the settlement of the Kyaka II Refugee Camp in Western, where there is only one doctor. The lack of medical personnel is just the tip of the iceberg of shortcomings regarding the humanitarian assistance in the country. The basic services are available only at two health centers in the refugee camp. For emergencies, such as caesareans, surgery, and blood transfusions, patients must go to the Kyegegwa Health Center, about 15 km away, while the most serious emergencies must go to Fort Portal, the government hospital at about 140 km. Within the field, which extends for 209 square feet, there is only one ambulance. The pediatric ward has nine beds and 27 children are hospitalized, three to a bed. Among the many serious challenges that the refugee population is having to deal with, is the prevailing lack of food that does not allow antiretroviral drugs to be taken correctly, violence, especially among the Congolese, malaria, and dysentery, which are more than 50 percent of the common diseases among the patients in the Kyaka II. According to a survey conducted by the Uganda Virus Research Institute in 2008, the rate of HIV in Kyaka was 7.6%, compared to the national average of 5.4% in 2009. The refugees in the refugee camp belong to nine nationalities, and the majority of HIV cases are from among the Congolese, 45,000 of whom are displaced in camps in Nakivale and Kyaka II. Both health services present in Kyaka II offer advice to HIV positive patients, those with post-traumatic stress disorder and psychological trauma. There is a need for a greater number of doctors who to care for these people with seriousness and constancy, as they are affected by the turmoil of war, violence, and lack of health care. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 17/3/2010)
