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Kigezi Healthcare Foundation introduced mobile clinics to reach out to the vulnerable communities that can not afford to travel long distances mainly to urban centers that provide better healthcare. Mobile clinics play an integral part in providing health care in remote communities. In Uganda, the health infrastructure has been severely affected by the the Covid 19 pandemic. A number of Health facilities do not have functional primary health care facilities, forcing families to either delay medical care or take long trips if they can afford it.

Our mobile team is hosted in the schools, Religious institutions like the churches and it receives mothers and children through a fixed announced schedule. The team is one of the health teams reaching out to over 30 villages and it is supported mainly through generous donations through the GlobalGiving platform. They provide health care services to vulnerable mothers and children. This includes providing integrated medical services for children and pregnant and lactating mothers. This is the only option to provide services in the area, Many people can not afford to travel long distances. People totally rely on the mobile medical team for medication.

The mobile team oversees moves to different villages and announces its visits through school principals and village chiefs and religious leaders.  It provides various free medical services, including clinical examinations, medicine, and referrals services, to children. At the same time, the team screens children and mothers for malnutrition, follows up on severe wasting cases and provides therapeutic and nutritional supplements. Additionally, the team raises awareness about communicable diseases, routine vaccination, and personal hygiene practices. The team also runs counselling sessions on the importance of breastfeeding for pregnant and new mothers. There is also screening for hypertension, Diabetes ,cervical cancer deworming children and many other conditions.

With the hard-economic situation and the shortage of fuel leading to high transport costs, these clinics provide a good alternative to families who can’t afford private clinics or cannot secure public transportation to reach the city,

A pregnant woman due to deliver but had no delivery kit was happy to get one in a mobile clinic. She was examined by a midwife for the first time in her pregnancy.

“I am very happy with the services we receive. All health workers at the clinic are helpful and nice” the pregnant woman said.