SOCADIDO proving good and affordable health services

 

AIMED at improving the quality of lives of the people in the locality, the Soroti Catholic Diocese Integrated Development Organisation (SOCADIDO) has stood by the people of Teso thereby enabling them to live a health life.

 

SOCADIDO has several health centers and under which Father Athanasius Mubiru says they have several components for improving health where curative, preventive, promotive and rehabilitative health care services are carried out.

 

Under curative, there are 15 heath centers where the community is treated of diseases and ante-natal, mother health care services for are provided. Under promotive, the community is educated about clean water sources, while under rehabilitative, people are referred to bigger hospitals for limbs and other requirements.

 

"We also control malaria by distributing nets to pregnant mothers and for HIV/AIDS, we do give support services, counseling and testing. Under health still, we have taken the medicine nearer to the people so that they can access them at an affordable flat rate," says Mubiru.

 

Health units manned by SOCADIDO have been turned into camps for the people during problematic periods and they have been availed with free medical services in times of insurgence, cattle wrestling and times of peace.

 

"We have been always there for these people. We never chasse them away. We do not just look at them but provide them with all the necessary assistance required at no cost," said father Mubiru.

 

To ensure good services, there has been staff development programmes with many training institutions all aimed at improving service delivery. Also involving the community in running, in planning, staffing, financing and managing.

 

Patients waiting for treatment at Madela Hospital.

 

It is not a common thing with many health centers that one can get medication under one package. Most health centers have structured different charges for different services offered. You will find that whenever you go to a health centre, you are required to pay for consultation fee, laboratory fees and then for medication.

 

However, in all the Health centers run by SOCADIDO, there is only one flat rate which according to Father Mubiru is the same for all the services provided. And besides, the charges for children are different (lower) than those for the adults. "What an adult is charged is not what the child pays," says Father Mubiru.

 

On the availability of nurses, doctors medical staff, they are on call 24 hours a day and very active as Father Mubiru explains. The organization that covers the districts of Soroti, Bukedea, Kumi, Amuria, Kaberamaido and Katakwi has been engaged in poverty eradication programmes, like Agriculture, livestock and micro enterprise besides health.

 

There are also the poverty eradication programmes, SOCADIDO had also been actively involved in the community health that covers hygiene, water and sanitation and the control of malaria and HIV/AIDS.

 

Through other humanitarian organizations like World Health Organisation (WHO), Caritas Uganda , CORDAID ( Netherlands ) and TRACAIRE ( Ireland ), SOCADIDO has also extended household support to the needy in terms of blankets and other items that include blankets, mattresses to units with great influx.

 

Father Athanasius Mubiru says that they have also been so much involved in human rights advocacy and peace building, adult literacy and caring for people with disabilities.

 

"In order to do this, we believe that the people must be involved in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the efforts put in. the people should not be spectators of development but they must participate. They must also be beneficiaries of what they are carrying out, be able to criticize, monitor what is going on and must be listened to.

 

"Actually what we have been doing is to empower the people to design and demand their rights from the duty bearers in the villages. We have about 200 people mobilizing communities into development groups so as to create awareness.

 

"We are training the community so that they can do what they can with skill meaning we are with them implementing, monitoring and evaluation with the people. Still in capacity building we believe that an ignorant person is easily exploited, that is why SOCADIDO ensures that there is adequate, timely and relevant opportunity to these people," said Mubiru.