PHYSICAL
CARE & SUPPORT
Family
| PLWDs | Commercial sex workers | Urban
poor | OVCs | PMTCT | Fathers
The right to be loved & cared for
"My
most stressful moments are undoubtedly where
the child is tested positive if the child
is my child's age it is even worse. You
should realise that HIV directly affects
almost all of us in our personal lives &
that adds to the stress of doing this work"
(Health worker. TASO Newsletter
Vol.9, No.1, Jan-Mar 2001)
Overview
The Physical Care & support
programme covers care intervention projects
in palliative care and support for people
living with HIV/AIDS and opportunistic infections.
HCU seeks to improve the livelihood of people
living with HIV/AIDS while bettering the
welfare of the affected families. In the
community-centered society that Uganda is,
we Humanitarian Care Uganda seek to work
in liaison with community and cultural leaders
to combat the spread of or atleast the detrimental
effect of the HIV/AIDS scourge on Uganda.
A medical
practitioner; Life upcountry
HCU seeks to address the
issues arising from poor livelihoods and
family welfare that arise from the increased
dependency ratio per working adult. It encompasses
the whole spectrum of medical services required
by people living with HIV/AIDS and infected
with the opportunistic infections.
"There is no one 'thing' which is most
stressful. It is the accumulation of the
same intense problems & such poverty
day after day. The closer I get to HIV the
more I fear taking the test. I fear all
the worst I have seen of HIV for me"
(Quotes, in Peter Sketchly, TASO Newsletter,
Vol.9, No.1, Jan - Mar '01) p.14
“The most frequent cited
cause of poverty is ill-health and disease.”
Says the UPPAP’s (Uganda Participatory
Poverty Assessment Project under Ministry
of Finance and Economic Planning) research
findings on deepening the understanding
of poverty. “Time lost when sick and
for women especially, time spent taking
care of the sick, reduces productivity while
the cost of care uses up savings and leads
to sale of assets. HIV/AIDS continues to
feature highly among the causes of poor
health. According to an old women in Butema
Village in Bugiri, ‘The children and
we the parents fall sick and we have to
spend the few savings on treatment, only
to recover after the planting season, then
poverty increases in the household.’
” (Source: Ministry of Finance and Economic
Planning, 2nd Participatory Poverty Assessment,
PPA2)
Problem
Statement
As a developing nation, Uganda faces the
challenge of a weak health care system coupled
with underfunded & understaffed health
facilities. UIA's Investing in Health Care
report revealed that "although the
number [of training institutions] totals
to 69, they are still inadequate to fully
address the growing demand for specialized
skills in the health care industry. There's
a potential and opportunity to invest in
this sector particularly in areas where
specialized manpower shortages have been
identified."
.
. . . ...... ................ . . ......
................................ . .....A
nurse innoculating a patient A
recent report of UN Conference on Trade
& Development(UNCTAD) revealed that
in 2002, there were 175 Uganda doctors living
& practicising in the US, compared to
722 in the whole of Uganda (Olita, 2007.
Brain Drain hits Uganda, NEW VISION). It
also points out that Uganda has only 3 doctors
per 100,000 people much lower than the African
average of 13 per 100,000.
Uganda as one of the East African Countries
is not exempted from the social economic
challenges such as high crime rate, low
life expectancy, high levels of ignorance,
high illiteracy, prostitution, drug addiction,
unemployment. With such challenges, the
cost of living tends to be high coupled
with a high dependency ratio means that
the family is the hardest hit institution
of all.
Being that the majority of
Ugandans have a subsistence lifestyle, many
a family has been robbed of the main bread-winners
i.e., the parents, thus leaving the children
to the dogs as the relatives and inlaws
snatch away the property of the deceased.
Goal &
Development Objective The goal of
the Physical care & support programme
is marginalised people groups (especially
the most-at-risk populations [HIV/AIDS orphans,
child-mothers]) and their care service providers
enjoying better and improved local, health
care services. The programme's development
objective is Ugandans accessing
better and improved health care services.
Expected
Outcomes
• Longer working & productive
life for people living with HIV/AIDS
• Better quality & reliable health
care service delivery
• Adequately equipped, affordable
health care facilities & personnel
• Reliable, Updated health care-giver
information system collected and accessible
as and when needed
• NGO Forum
• Reach Out Mbuya HIV/AIDS Initiative
• Uganda AIDS Commission
• Uganda Bureau of Statistics
• Inhouse medical personnel: doctors,
nurses, dentists
• Researchers:e.g., Joint Clinical
Research Centre
• Ambulance service providers
• Laboratory: testing service providers
• PIASCY: Presidential Initiative
on AIDS Strategy for Communication with
the Youth
• Local health care facilities
• Village clinics
• Licensing organisations: City Councils
• Medical students
• School nurses
A
recent report of UN Conference on Trade
& Development(UNCTAD) revealed that
in 2002, there were 175 Uganda doctors living
& practicising in the US, compared to
722 in the whole of Uganda (Olita, 2007.
Brain Drain hits Uganda, NEW VISION). It
also points out that Uganda has only 3 doctors
per 100,000 people much lower than the African
average of 13 per 100,000.