As part of my LEAD fellowship, I am involved in the “COVID-19 and Health Disparities Research Pilot Study (PI: Nhial Tutlam)” within the Bidibidi refugee settlement. On July 3rd, I had the opportunity to visit the Bidibidi settlement, accompanied by my secondary mentor, Dr. Anita Kabarambi, and the pilot study coordinator, Isaac Kwesiga.
Uganda stands as one of the top five countries worldwide hosting refugees. The Bidibidi settlement was established in August 2016 to respond to a significant influx of refugees from South Sudan. Located in the Yumbe District of Northwestern Uganda, the settlement covers an expansive area of 250 square kilometers, divided into five zones, consisting of 19 clusters and 75 villages. Bidibidi, one of the largest refugee settlements globally, accommodates a population exceeding 200,000 refugees. The majority of residents in the settlement are South Sudanese refugees, while there is also a small population of Congolese refugees present. The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) manages the settlement, working with 87 partners, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC), across nine key areas including education, protection, livelihood, environment, health, shelter, food, logistics, and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) for refugees.
During our visit to the Bidibidi settlement, we met with representatives from the OPM and IRC, engaged with community members in Village 1 within Zone 3, and visited three health centers: Bolomoni Health Center III, Luzira Health Centre III, and Yangani Health Center III. This blog post focuses on my visit to Bolomoni Health Center III.
Bolomoni Health Center III is located on the border of Zone 4 of the Bidibidi refugee settlement and the Imvepi Refugee Settlement in the Terego District. During our visit, we met with the center’s clinical officer, Lukwiya Freddy, who was affectionately referred to as Dr. Fred by the patients. With a dedicated team of 32 staff members and 5 translators, the center provides vital medical care to approximately 9,000 patients annually and extends services to around 350 individuals requiring hospitalization each month.
As part of this visit, we had a tour of the facility and learned that the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) established Bolomoni Health Center III in 2016 in response to the influx of refugees from South Sudan. In 2018, the outpatient department (OPD) of the health center was transitioned to the management of Médecins du Monde (MdM), followed by the complete handover of the inpatient department (IPD) to MdM in 2019. Currently, parts of the activities in Bolomoni Health Center III are supported by the IRC and UNHCR. Bolomoni Health Center III provides services to both local community members and refugees. While the center currently operates in a semi-permanent structure, the staff expressed hope that the government would construct a permanent facility in the near future. The existing semi-permanent structure comprises a concrete floor, a wooden framework, and metal roofing.
We also had the opportunity to tour various departments of Bolomoni Health Center III. This included the IPD, featuring an emergency room with 2 beds, a female unit with 10 beds, and a male unit with 10 beds. Additionally, we visited OPD and its different units including a consultation room for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), maternity unit, social work unit, mental health unit, nutrition unit, and anti-retroviral therapy (ART) clinic. Additionally, we visited the center’s department dedicated to addressing sexual and gender-based violence, its youth-friendly corner, and its well-equipped laboratory capable of conducting complete blood counts (CBC) and blood transfusions. Among the innovative services of the center was transportation assistance through a Tuk Tuk and a designated driver to facilitate access for patients who are unable to reach the facility independently.