Palliative Care For Uganda recognizes that continued education of local healthcare providers is paramount to its mission of providing palliative care to the people of Uganda. With the support of its donors, PCFU is able to support educational lectures, on-site educational programs, and staff attendance at conferences elsewhere. Our latest focus is developing a multi-media educational curriculum using video clips from actual palliative care encounters between our Ugandan team of experts and Ugandan patients in order to educate local healthcare workers in several principles of palliative care. Once developed, these modules will be distributed to rural hospitals, health workers, medical schools and nursing schools with the help of the African Palliative Care Association, who has strongly endorsed this program. The first pilot study of the modules was carried out in 2018 and was a huge success. With further collaborations with academic medical centers within and outside of Uganda being strengthened, we hope to distribute this program to other countries in Africa in the coming year.
Technology
Bringing medical and information technology to rural Africa can be a difficult process, but Palliative Care For Uganda feels that it is crucial to the success of their mission.
The reliability of internet access in the out of the way areas has been hampered by a sub-optimal infrastructure. Frequent electrical outages and spotty cellular coverage is the norm in these areas. Palliative Care For Uganda has been instrumental in bringing in reliable internet service to this area through its partnering with internet providers in Uganda. With dependable internet service, the other two paths to excellence, education and medical care, are both greatly enhanced. On-line access to medical information, conferences, and email capability have helped bring medical expertise to this under-served area.
Medical Care
Donations, medications and medical supplies are obtained in the U.S. and through reliable medical suppliers in Africa and hand delivered to our center of operations in Uganda at the St. Frances Naggalama Hospital. These medications and supplies are used solely for the patients served by Palliative Care For Uganda.
Developing and maintaining partnerships with other organizations advances the care of patients in this part of Uganda by keeping a steady supply of necessary medicines and equipment.