The Palliative Care Association of Uganda (PCAU) has entered into partnership with two big football clubs in
Kampala for a joint fundraising drive to build a hospice in Arua. The Football
Clubs, KCCAFC and the Onduparaka FC are among the biggest brands of Football in
Uganda and East Africa. KCCAFC is owned by the governing authority of Uganda’s
Capital while the Onduparaka FC hails from the West Nile Region. They both have
multitudes of supporters and lovers of soccer across the country. The two clubs
have now partnered with PCAU to organize a fundraising drive to support New
Life Hospice Arua (NELIHA) to establish a permanent h
ome in Arua. This
partnership is as a result of a request by PCAU to both clubs. In 2017, PCAU launched
a five year strategic plan which among other key areas focuses on raising
resources to support hospice and palliative care initiatives in remote
districts of the country.
The World Health Organization(WHO) defines Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life
of patients (adults and children) and their families who are facing problems
associated with life-threatening illness. It prevents and relieves suffering
through the early identification, correct assessment and treatment of pain and
other problems, whether physical, psychosocial or spiritual.
Palliative care service provision
began in Uganda in 1993 through the establishment of Hospice Africa Uganda(HAU). To date, there are 13 standalone hospices across the country with the
majority of these located in the central districts near the capital Kampala.
This leaves the larger part of upcountry districts in Uganda without hospices.
This greatly impacts the provision of palliative care services because
ordinarily, the public health care system in Uganda does not offer home care
services. Research by Hospice Africa Uganda has shown that majority of patients
in their last days prefer to die from home other than in hospital settings. It
therefor very important that stand alone hospice arrangements are supported
because they offer services such as community out reaches and home care.
Otherwise, patients often die in great pain and suffering. This comes along
with great distress to the entire family where these patients die.
This year, the palliative care
fraternity is celebrating 25 years since these services were first introduced
in Uganda. The Palliative Care Association of Uganda which was founded has
realized great strides. The Association works closely with the Ministry of Health
and has the vision of Palliative Care for all in need in Uganda. A profound
achievement for the palliative care fraternity in Uganda is that Morphine which
is the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended medicine for treatment of
pain among the terminally ill available for patients free of charge.
The
government pays for the production of this medication at Hospice Africa Uganda.
Since 2004, the Ugandan laws also allowed specially trained nurses and clinical
officers to prescribe this controlled narcotic medicine. This made Uganda the
first country to allow this task shifting as opposed to the norm where doctors
are the only ones allowed to prescribe such medicines. These among other
developments have made Uganda a model of palliative care service provision in
Africa.
However, statistics by the
Ministry of Health indicate that only or slightly above 10 percent Ugandans in
need of Palliative Care receive it. The Health Sector Development Plan
2016-2020 indicates that hospice and palliative care services are being offered
in only 4.8% of the public hospitals. This portrays the magnitude of need and
why such initiatives and partnerships to support establishment of standalone
hospices are valid. The football clubs should also be credited for allowing to
use their brands to give back to society.
The KCCA FC and Onduparaka FC
will play a charity games in both Kampala and Arua town. The game in Kampala
will be played on June 16th while that of Arua will be played on June 30th 2018
at Star Times Stadium Lugogo and Betway Greenlight Stadium respectively. The
gate collections from the sale of tickets will go towards the establishment of
the first building for the New Life Hospice in Arua (NELIHA).
The two events are expected to
raise 500 million Uganda Shillings, which is the estimated cost of establishing
the building with its facilities. The building will house a patient’s waiting
room, three office rooms and hostel capacity for at least 20 cancer patients
receiving treatment at Arua Regional referral Hospital and patients in transit
after referral to Uganda Cancer institute (UCI) in Kampala. The location of
this hospice is prime given that the communities in West Nile host refugees
from the Southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The proposed
hospice will therefore serve not only the locals but also refugees but
also citizens of the two neighboring countries who after all travel daily to
access health care in Uganda.
Football has a unique way of
bringing together people from all walks of life. It is a unifying factor. The
planned football games are expected bring together large crowds of over 10,000
football lovers but also philanthropists and policy makers. The games will be
utilized by palliative care organizations to give out messages on the services.
In addition, the games will offer a platform to advocate for key matters such
as the passing of the National Palliative Care Policy by the government. The
development and passing of this policy has stalled for about 10 years.
In a world with the ever
increasing incidence rate of Non Communicable Diseases, specialist services
such as palliative care ought to be prioritized not only by government but also
the business community and civil society actors. Universal health coverage(UHC) which as a central place in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) by 2030 is also defined with palliative care as central. In essence, the
WHO has defined UHC to mean that all people should have access to the full
spectrum of essential, quality health services they need (health promotion,
prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care) without the risk of
financial hardship when paying for them.
