International Association for Hospice & Palliative Care

International Association for Hospice & Palliative Care

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Promoting Hospice & Palliative Care Worldwide

International Association for Hospice & Palliative Care

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"Promoting Hospice and Palliative Care Worldwide"

 

2004; Volume 5, No 9, September

 

IAHPC Regional Report - Uganda

Hospice Africa Uganda Newsletter
Reprinted by permission

Index:

IAHPC's Homepage

Message from the Chair
& Executive Director:

Dr. Bruera
& Liliana De Lima


Article of the Month:
Dr. Ripamonti

Book Reviews:
Dr. Woodruff

Travelling Fellowship Reports:
Ghana

Regional News:
Africa
Uganda
UK

A Day's work:
Mobile Hospice Mbarara

Focus on IAHPC Board Member:
Dr Daniela Mosoiu

Hospice & Children:
Help the Hospices

Webmaster's Corner:
Anne Laidlaw

Editor's Notes:
Dr. Farr

Palliative Care in the Developing World: Principles and Practice

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Hospice Africa Uganda Newsletter

The signed statute is received by Dr. Jacinto Amandua and the Uganda Palliative Care Country Team at the Ministry of Health in March 2004.

Dear Friends,
Hospice Africa Uganda was catapulted in the New Year 2004 with many new challenges as well as renewed commitment to help the terminally ill and their families. Hospice has bravely continued to offer services even when the financial future has been uncertain. As communicated in the previous letter we are now operating with funds from DANIDA and finalizing funding details with USAID, two big local donors here in Kampala. We feel privileged that such donors have recognized Hospice's role and contribution in the delivery of and training for palliative care in Uganda.

This has given us confidence that God will give us the necessary resources for this work as the need arises. We want to thank all of you who have prayed for Hospice and contributed resources that have kept us afloat during that uncertain period. To our pleasure and sometimes consternation the demand for palliative care services and training continue to grow and we are beginning to feel stretched as we try to meet the need.

It is gratifying, also, to see Hospice increasing the network and partnership with other sister organizations such as Mildmay International, Mulago Teaching and Referral Hospital, Makerere University and The AIDS Support Organization (TASO). Many of our friends will be delighted to know that through such efforts the statute has been changed now permitting nurses and Clinical Officers, trained in palliative care to prescribe oral morphine in their own right (without being covered by a doctor). This has been signed by the Minister of Health and is another first for Uganda on the African scene. This will increase the number of prescribers in the country with the addition of clinical palliative care Nurses and Clinical Officers, able to control patients' pain and other symptoms especially at home. This Statute will boost the morale of the nurses who have already been trained and have gained experience in handling those with incurable illness during their hour of need. The change of statute indicates Government's confidence in the expertise of Hospice trained Nurses. Negotiations are still going on to have the Clinical Palliative Care Course (CPCC) for Nurses and Clinical Officers registered by the Nursing Council. We have recruited Catherine Owullu, a Nurse-Tutor, well experienced with our Ministry of Health, to advocate for nurses in palliative care and this course registration will be one of her initial tasks.

Invitations from other African countries continue to come and Drs Anne and Jagwe travelled to Lusaka, Zambia in the last week of February 2004 to assist one of our palliative care trainees in the DLD programme scale up palliative care and the availability of oral morphine in that country. Two of our nurses, Berna and Mwazi travelled to Tanzania during the same period to provide technical support and support supervision to palliative care teams at Ocean Road Cancer Institute and PASADA. We are encouraged that these teams are delivering services to the terminally ill around Dar-Es-Salaam in spite of many constraints such as transport for the home care teams. More invitations have come in from Botswana and Ghana and we are preparing a response.

Other responsibilities have been taken on, as Uganda takes a lead in preparing a new African edition of the book A Clinical Guide to Supportive & Palliative Care for HIV/AIDS. This book originally published in US and edited by Joseph F. O'Neill, MD, MPH et al in 2003, is a first. There are several Ugandans from different palliative care teams writing as primary or secondary authors with colleagues from S Africa and other countries in Africa. Many of our Hospice team are involved.

Also APCA (African Palliative Care Association, has opened its first office in Fazal House at Hospice in Makindye with the first employee, Maureen Asiimwe, secretary to the association. There is much hard work to be done as the first General Assembly and Conference takes place from 1 – 5 June in Arusha. It will also be a meeting of palliative care experts from several continents but will be mainly for African participants. The steering committee are from 5 different African countries, S Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, and are working hard to make this meeting a success. We look forward to meeting with many friends in Arusha in June.

So with rapid developments both in Uganda and in Africa, with the spread of palliative care and peace to those in greatest need, we go forward with renewed joy to share with you the joys of Easter.

God Bless you all.

Ekie and the Hospice team