Iyolwa Health Centre III uplifted to better standards
Iyolwa Health Centre III is within Iyolwa Area Development Program, (ADP), located in Iyolwa Central Village, Iyolwa Sub-county in Tororo District, 285 Kilometers from Kampala in Eastern Uganda. It is 20 Kilometers south of the Tororo town on the right after Tororo cement factory.
The Health Centre was begun in 1966 under a tree with a private nurse solely delivering Health services to the community. In April 1966, Government offered to construct a shelter at the Health facility and completed it in the following year.
“I was a school boy when construction was beginning in 1966 and the building was opened in 1967.” John Opendi 54, a native and senior nursing officer said. Iyolwa Health center started at grade one level but has been gradually improving up to the current grade. The facility mostly caters for pregnant women, children and adults.
According to Mr. Dan Odit, the Health In-charge and clinical Officer at the Health Centre, by February 2013 when he was posted, the facility was under staffed with only four technical staff out of the 19 available. He says that the absence of a laboratory technician and laboratory equipment was a major hindrance to carrying out blood tests which made the community to dread the facility.
As a result of Citizen Voice and Action (CVA) intervention, community gathering meetings took place from May to June 2013 where community members, Political leaders and service providers were empowered to establish ways of improving the facility. Eventually, Pit latrines providing for people with disabilities were constructed and more technical Health personnel were posted through the district. For example, out of the 19 current staff, 10 are technical, including 2clinical officers, 2 Midwives and 2 Nursing Officers. The maternity ward was improved where 10 beds and 10 mattresses were donated by Marristopes Uganda, mosquito nets and Mama Kits were also made available for admitted patients & pregnant mothers respectively with support from World Vision.
In addition, the Health Centre laboratory was restocked with enough kits and various treatments tests like TB test and HIV blood test are being administered, unlike before CVA interventions. Besides, drugs and storage facilities were improved, where by a gas cylinder was donated by government to help in sterilization of kits, with a drug chamber given to improve drug storage.
Citizen Voice and Action interventions also empowered community members to form Village Health Teams (VHT’s). The VHTs carry out outreaches to improve on the Health standards in the community. This has helped to build on the relationship thus improving and the relationship between Health workers and the community members.
Because of CVA, the community registered holistic impacts. Iyolwa Health centre can serve over one thousand (1000) patients from the community of seventeen thousand four hundred people (17,400) unlike before CVA interventions.