40% Ugandans with surgical diseases not attended to – Surgeons

By Ben Musanje

22nd March 2023

 

Surgeons have disclosed that Uganda has a surgical disease burden of 40 percent.

 

This has been disclosed by Dr Victor Kigonya, the Spokesperson of the Association of Surgeons in Uganda ahead of their three events on March 30 and 31 including a surgical exhibition conference, association’s Annual General Meeting and a memorial lecture.

 

Dr. Kigonya while interacting with health Journalists at their offices in Kamwokya on Wednesday said that many surgical diseases are not addressed due to the ignorance among the public that these diseases are surgical treatable diseases, the fear among the patients that need surgeries and the services being expensive.

 

Another factor that contributes to this burden according to Dr Kigonya is the number of surgeons in the country being limited at 350 that are responsible for the population of 46 million Ugandans.

 

He mentions thyroid diseases, swelling under the skin, swelling with pass and hernia as the major surgical diseases that are mostly not addressed across the country.

 

It is upon this background that the surgeons through their association have organized an exhibition surgical camp at Protea Hotel Entebbe from 30th to 31 March 2023 to freely attend to patients with surgical diseases.

 

He says that at the same venue, they will also conduct their annual general meeting where they will come up with a strategy of reaching out to people in the hard to reach areas who mostly can’t afford accessing surgeries.

 

Dr Kigonya says they have come up with new technologies of conducting surgeries that are to be unveiled on one of those days hence calling upon the public to attend the exhibition camp and access free services on those days.