Uganda

In Uganda, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) addresses gaps in healthcare for adolescents and responds to the needs of refugees. In 2022, we also assisted with COVID-19 vaccinations and responded to an Ebola outbreak.

At the beginning of the year, our teams continued to support the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Kasese district, reaching 270,000 adults. Our support included setting-up vaccination centres, securing the supply of oxygen, and ensuring infection prevention and control.

Later in the year, we sent a team to Nyakabande camp to assist refugees from the conflict in North Kivu in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. In addition to setting up a health centre, we constructed latrines and shelters, provided clean water, and distributed essential items such as hygiene and cooking kits.

When an Ebola outbreak was declared in September, our teams managed the construction and installation of six Ebola treatment centres. As well as managing and supporting treatment, we worked to prevent the spread of the outbreak by sending outreach teams to conduct health promotion, infection prevention control measures and water, sanitation and hygiene activities, and provide epidemiological expertise, in five districts of the country: Mubende, Kassanda, Kampala, Masaka and Jinja.

In Kasese district, we continued to run a dedicated clinic for adolescents aged 10-19 inside a Ministry of Health centre. The clinic offers a broad range of medical services tailored to adolescents’ needs, including sexual and reproductive healthcare, with a specific focus on pregnant teenagers, treatment for HIV and sickle cell disease, as well as social and mental health support. Our teams also provided sexual and reproductive healthcare and mental health support to the mainly South Sudanese refugees living in Omugo and Imvepi camps.

In 2022, we handed over to the Ministry of Health the HIV project that we had been running for the fishing communities in Kasese since 2015. We also started the handover of our HIV and tuberculosis programme in Arua district, which we aim to complete in 2023.