UGANDA: the health of women at St. Francis Nsambya Hospital in Kampala

Objective: improve the prevention, diagnosis and therapy of the cancer of the cervix, of the breast and of choriocarcinoma at St. Francis Nsambya Hospital in Kampala.
Concluded: February 2012 / February 2015
Funded by MAECI: € 1.644.560
Cervix and breast cancer are the most common tumors affecting Ugandan women. AISPO in partnership with AFRON (Oncology in Africa) and APOF (Association of pathologists)has tackled the challenge with this project which just concluded.
The project has purchased chemotherapy drugs and biomedical equipmentto support the intensive training initiatives carried on by the technical assistance of Italian experts.
Ancillary services like clinical engineering, quality system and digitalization of the laboratory and clinical departments were reinforced/introduced.
All these interventions have improved the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of cancer of the cervix, of breast and of choriocarcinoma.
More than 20 Italianexperts visited the hospital, and offered technical assistance and trained the Ugandan colleagues: oncologists, surgeons, lab technician, biomedical engineers, computer technicians, certification of quality system experts. They performed 51 short missions and worked for 1.200 days side by side with the Ugandan colleagues.

In particular:

· surgeons performed the most complicated surgical procedures transferring competences to their homologues. The service was strengthened with the purchase of surgical instruments

· All the SOPs for the quality certification ISO15187 were introduced in the lab service and in the chemotherapy service where new clinical protocols were also introduced.

· Clinical engineering service were organized to introduce SOPs on equipment maintenance.

· A centralized oxygen and medical gas distribution plant was realized to serve the Operating Theatre, where new anesthetic equipment and scialytic lamps were installed.

· A laminar flow cap for the preparation of chemotherapy drugs was installed. Personal Protection Equipment for the operators were purchased according to international standard.

· The informatics system ModuLab was installed

· An informatics program to improve patient management was elaborated and introduced

Stages were organized in Italy and the sponsored staff participated in training courses in Uganda.
Two screening campaignswere organized: free of charge pap testsand ultrasound investigations were offered to women who attended preventive services organized in the hospital. When necessary , biopsies were performed. The public was previously informed by awareness campaigns and information via radio, pamphlets and organization of events.
In Collaboration with AFRON a public “Family House”, was constructed to accommodate, inparticular ,patients coming from the periphery of the countrywho need to undergo chemotherapy treatments in the day hospital.