Tayari News | Job Namanya
KABALE – Severe acute malnutrition accounts for 60 per cent of paediatric admissions at Kabale Regional Referral Hospital, with inadequate nutritional support after discharge contributing to repeated hospitalisations, a health worker has revealed.
Pidson Kamugisha, a nursing officer in the hospital’s paediatric ward, said some children relapse weeks after discharge because their families cannot access therapeutic feeds needed to sustain recovery at home.
Kamugisha was speaking during a charity outreach by members of the Rotary Club of Makanga in formation, who donated assorted household, hygiene and personal care items to malnourished children and their caregivers.
He said the hospital had trained health workers, adequate staffing and essential medicines but faced challenges providing continuous nutritional support, particularly for children recovering from severe acute malnutrition.
“The biggest challenge is in the supply of nutritional care. We give children specific therapeutic feeds, but for those with very low weight, once we finish stabilising them here, we lack take-home feeds to give families so that the child can continue recovery in the community,” Kamugisha said.
The facility admits between 150-200 patients monthly according to Kamugisha.
He warned that inadequate nutrition after discharge could lead to deterioration, readmission and complications, calling on development partners and humanitarian agencies to support therapeutic feeding programmes.
Kamugisha also highlighted the plight of children cared for by elderly grandmothers who lack basic necessities and social support.
He said some caregivers could not afford warm clothing to protect infants from the cold, while inadequate hygiene supplies exposed children to additional health risks.
Some families, he added, resort to using makeshift cloth diapers lined with polythene bags, locally known as buveera, to contain leakage during diarrhoea episodes, potentially causing skin irritation and infections.
Kamugisha said sustained support for nutrition services and specialised newborn care would help reduce preventable complications and save lives.
“We have enough doctors, our bed capacity currently matches our patient load, and our health workers are well trained,” he said, adding that nutritional supplies remained a critical gap.
Rotary pledges continued support
Michael Kyakashari, the presidential designate of the Rotary Club of Makanga in formation, said the club had identified the paediatric ward as a priority after consulting hospital authorities about the needs of vulnerable children and their caregivers.
He said the donation was intended to complement government healthcare services by providing basic necessities to families unable to afford items such as soap, diapers, toilet paper and warm clothing.
“You find some children are born and they don’t have warm clothes. Some are born without things like diapers, and their parents don’t even have soap to bathe them. That is why we chose that section,” Kyakashari said.
He pledged that the intervention would become a continuous programme rather than a one-off donation, with the club planning to maintain support for children and families receiving treatment at the hospital.
“In Rotary, it is service above self, and that is why we chose to give a helping hand to the paediatric section as we move towards our charter day,” he said.
Kyakashari said the club brings together residents working in the hospital, district offices and other institutions, alongside golf enthusiasts, who want to promote fellowship and community service.
He said the group intended to collaborate with established Rotary clubs to support vulnerable communities and expressed optimism that the club would be formally chartered in November 2026.
Christine Tukakira Barigye, a local pastor attached to Soul Winner Church in Kabale and the chief launcher at the function, called on more people to support initiatives targeting vulnerable children and mothers.
Barigye said the outreach had demonstrated the extent of need among families struggling to provide basic necessities for children receiving treatment.
“As a pastor, we have these people in churches, and we try to do our best. But the hand of Rotary Club has pushed me further to feel that there are more people out there who have a heart for helping and supporting children and mothers,” she said.
She pledged Shs300,000 towards the club’s next community outreach, saying assistance to vulnerable families should be sustained beyond a single intervention.