“Thank you CPAR, and others that step in to fill the gap. The collapse of that ceiling is a powerful indictment on the state of affairs, in this nation, Uganda,” Peter Tomusange wrote on 27th June 2020, in comment to the post on our website: “CPAR Uganda constructed & equipped health centers.”
His comment came on the heals of the collapse of a ceiling of a maternity ward at Aromo Health Centre III in Lira District.
As it so happens, the ward was constructed in 2007, with support from Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief (CPAR), specifically its country program, CPAR Uganda..
Thirteen years later, when the ceiling collapsed, it is alleged that some were heard putting the blame on CPAR for not coming back to rehabilitate the ward it had supported construction and donated to Lira District Local Government.
Media headlines, such as the one of an in-depth story published by Monitor, were highly emotive:
“Mother narrowly survives as hospital ward ceiling collapses,” screamed the headline.
Our CPAR Uganda Board Chair, a medical doctor and a professor of public health at Makerere University Kampala was alerted. More accurately, he was inundated with alerts and queries.
His decision, the best response for CPAR at the time was not to add fuel to the fire. So, it was no comment from us.
Luckily, none of the expectant mothers in the ward, waiting to bring new life to the world were harmed.
No one was physically harmed, but certainly it was a traumatic incident on multiple levels.
It points to the state of healthcare services in Lira, in particular, in Lango, in Northern Uganda and in Uganda as a whole.
A necessary and urgent conversation that needs to be had. I hope it happens soon.
If it has already happened, I hope the positive resolutions have been implemented.
For context, please take some time to read:
The in-depth story of the collapsed ceiling as it was published in Monitor. CLICK HERE.
And the one on Uganda Radio Network, tilted: “Aromo HCIII suspends services following collapse of ceiling.” CLICK HERE.
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