The first edition of NUV-HOP (Northern Uganda Village Health Outreach Project) took place in the summer of 2013. The project started as a collaboration between Belgian and Ugandan medical students. In 2016 a British team of students (Manchester) joined the project, but this collaboration has come to an end because of Covid. NUV-HOP was founded as a project that mainly focusses on 'outreaches'. These are mobile medical clinics that reinforce the health centres for one day. Over the years we've been trying to focus more on preventive instead of curative care, although the latter is very prominent in the outreaches. In 2015, 'health talks' were introduced in the villages around the health centre of Awoo to meet this preventive aim.
The biggest challenge for NUV-HOP is to develop an initiative that is sustainable, but that also fulfills the needs of the local communities. That is why we consult locally as much as possible and a research project is started in collaboration with the International Centre for Reproductive Health (ICRH), located in Gent. Apart from the disclosed project activities, the Belgian students get the chance to do an internship in the local hospital. Moreover, it is a very interesting learning environment for all the students concerned, both from Belgium as from Uganda. There is a constructive cooperation with colleague-students with a different background. The medical students from Belgium, Great Britain and Uganda are represented by different associations (Organisation for Development And Health, Global Health Society & Gulu Medical Students' Association). |
Aim
Northern Uganda is one of the poorest regions in one of the poorest countries of Africa. The population lacks food and safe water, a solid infrastructure and adequate access to health and education. The countryside is affected even worse, especially in terms of inadequate hygiene and sanitation.
Studies have shown that 70% of the disease burden in Uganda is caused by a lack of personal and domestic hygiene and thus can be prevented through adequate prevention. This vicious circle has a negative impact on a big part of the Ugandan population. It can be broken by a coordinated and integrated use of the available resources.
The Ugandan ministry of health has formulated aims concerning the reduction of mother and infant mortality, malnutrition, the disease burden of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and the inequality in access to health. These efforts don't reach the poorest of the society, the ones who need it the most: the local population of the little villages in the rural areas of Uganda. These individuals don't get medical care or supervision, they suffer from transmitted diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis and they have a lack of vaccinations and health education about hygiene and family planning. The reconstruction of Northern Uganda is a slow and laborious process.
The general aim of the project is to provide sustainable and payable health care for the poor population of Northern Uganda who have been severely affected by conflicts in the past.
Specific aims of the project are:
Studies have shown that 70% of the disease burden in Uganda is caused by a lack of personal and domestic hygiene and thus can be prevented through adequate prevention. This vicious circle has a negative impact on a big part of the Ugandan population. It can be broken by a coordinated and integrated use of the available resources.
The Ugandan ministry of health has formulated aims concerning the reduction of mother and infant mortality, malnutrition, the disease burden of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and the inequality in access to health. These efforts don't reach the poorest of the society, the ones who need it the most: the local population of the little villages in the rural areas of Uganda. These individuals don't get medical care or supervision, they suffer from transmitted diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis and they have a lack of vaccinations and health education about hygiene and family planning. The reconstruction of Northern Uganda is a slow and laborious process.
The general aim of the project is to provide sustainable and payable health care for the poor population of Northern Uganda who have been severely affected by conflicts in the past.
Specific aims of the project are:
- To improve the general state of health in the remote villages in Northern Uganda.
- To prevent transmitted diseases.
- To establish free medical camps in selected communities with a high need for health care in Northern Uganda.
- To start a system of health education based on outreaches that focusses on issues of hygiene, reproductive health,
- To encourage volunteer work by active outreaches and media attention in the area.
- To provide an international internship for medical students in the GRRH.
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