In April, Malteser International received a delegation of four doctors representing the Ugandan Ministry of Health and other national institutions. The delegation aimed to foster stronger partnerships with health experts from Malteser International, learn more about the German emergency medical system and gather information for the development of a similar emergency medical structure in Uganda.
In the course of their four-day trip, the doctors visited the Malteser hospital in Bonn, various ambulance stations in Wetzlar, and accompanied a team of emergency medical personnel on a rescue operation. “In my view, it is less about the technical equipment than it is about the experts who operate them,” said Dr. Andew Sekitooleko, who was part of the delegation. “The rescue team at the scene of the accident worked together as a team in a very structured manner – with their hands and with their minds. I believe it would make more sense to place more emphasis on the training of emergency medical teams in Uganda,” he added.
The visit of the delegation will be followed by an action plan for the setup of an equivalent rescue service system in Uganda. With the support of Malteser International and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), a central control point in the capital city of Kampala is to be completed by the end of this year. Emergency rooms will also be equipped according to the standards of the World Health Organization, while emergency medical personnel will undergo further training.
Roland Hansen, Head of the Africa department at Malteser International, drew positive stock of the delegation’s visit: “It was quite a pleasure to see the commitment of our Ugandan partners for this project as well as their interest to learn as much as possible from the vast experiences of Malteser Germany. Their time with the Malteser rescue teams have fired them up, and they are now strengthened in their will to bring positive change to their country’s healthcare system, especially in the face of deadly consequences from road traffic accidents.”
