
BY RICHARD DRASIMAKU AND GOODLUCK MUSINGUZI
YUMBE: MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2024
Technicians have began assembling equipment at Kochi health centre III in Yumbe district, expected to be a game changer in enhancing maternal health.
This follows the completion of a sh1.9 b Word Bank funded project that included the construction of a maternity ward, a laboratory, a staff house and latrines, placenta pit and incinerator.
There is also a 300m perimeter fence, solar powered water system and walkways as part of the project.
Patrick Andialendu, the medical officer in charge of the health center disclosed that the project was funded under the Uganda Reproductive, maternal and child health improvement program.

“The facility has been temporarily handed over to us but we have not started using it because the equipment is still being installed and we are waiting for official commissioning,” he said.
Established in 1986, Kochi health center III which has a catchment population of 15,930 people has been using the general ward for maternity and there was an obvious challenge of lack of enough space.
“There are 10 beds in the old labour suite. Every day we have one or two deliveries. That means our average monthly delivery is almost 60. Mothers come when the beds are occupied and we have been grappling with it,” Andialendu recounted.
He believes that even with improved facility for deliveries, the number of people visiting Kochi health center would increase.
“We have a seasonal population of indigenous people. They move to do business in the towns in Arua, Yumbe, and Koboko but during rainy season, they come to do farm work. The number of refugees coming for services here is also significant,” he added.

He said this also explains the fluctuations in the Outpatients Department which shows a high number between April to June and September to November.
Malaria still remains is leading disease burden, especially among children, followed by the respiratory tract infections and road traffic accidents as the health unit is located by the Koboko-Yumbe-Moyo road.
He anticipates heavier workload on the already stretched staff once they shift to the new facility saying that new facilities always attract more clients.

Currently the health center has 10 staff out of the required 19 and four of the staff are non-medical personnel.
Ahmed Ejosiga, a resident of Kochi village urged the government to allocate more infrastructure projects including staff houses for Kochi saying that the facility has a big chunk of land that is still unutilized.
He also requested the UNHC and other agencies running refugee programs at Bidibidi to chip in and support Kochi which unlike many health units neighbouring the vast refugee settlement, receives no such support.