How Nkozi Hospital is Providing Healthcare to the Under-privileged

By Apio Sheila

According to the INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR EQUITY 88.3% of the Ugandan population is in the poorest quintile and 81.46% of the Ugandan quintile receive their healthcare from government facilities but, what happens to those that cannot afford healthcare services. some of these people that cannot access these facilities are not found in the rural areas only but also in the urban areas, what is being done for them to get healthcare without incurring costs?

During the covid-19 lockdown majority of the population was kept indoors but, people became creative and started vlogs, blogs mostly because of the situation that had occurred. Here is what Doctor Wilson has to say about how the underprivileged accessing healthcare.

Dr. Wilson as medical personnel throws more light on how they as Nkozi Hospital are helping Nkozi people who can not afford healthcare services. He says they have put up a public healthcare system that enables those with no access to the services to receive medical attention at no cost or at a low cost which is also a gift from the church.

This kind of service ensures people are treated and taken care of. He also says that the hospital offers free services such as free testing of malaria, free vaccination, free immunization, free HIV testing saying that just because they can not afford does not mean they can not be provided with basic health services which is something noble considered by the people of Nkozi.

This is a great idea and way to look after the people of your community, creates a healthier workforce, and improves the care given to children by doctors since the children have easy access to doctors issues are detected at an earlier time and be corrected.

THE MAIN ENTRANCE TO NKOZI HOSPITAL

A PATIENT BEING ADMINISTERED A VACCINE BY A HEALTH WORKER OF NKOZI HOSPITAL

TIPS ON HOW TO REMAIN HEALTHY

Eating healthy foods, is something we have been encouraged to do since childhood to help in our physical strength or appearance not only does it improve our appearance but also protects us from many chronic non-communicable illnesses such as cancer. Eating different kinds of food with fewer salts, sugar or trans-fats is vital for a healthy diet. Dr. Wilson with whom I had the pleasure of interviewing talked about garlic being an underrated plant, he added that it can be used as a home remedy for many bacterial or viral diseases and other diseases such as cough, flu, Urinary Tract Infections, high blood pressure.

Its important to choose a variety of foods from within each food group. Photo by Rajesh TP on Pexels.c

 

Photo by Nick Collins

Working out/ Exercising is not a cup of tea everyone wishes to drink but its one thing to do to maintain a healthy body and mind and also strengthen your immune system by making your cardiovascular muscles work more efficiently. it does not mean you should spend 4 hours in the gym to achieve that, a simple 30mimute workout may suffice. Exercising goes hand in hand with eating healthy, so to achieve a healthy lifestyle while exercising you must eat healthily. A nurse at Nkozi hospital pointed out that exercising is one of the things they advise the patients who cannot afford healthcare from there which helps strengthen muscles and boost endurance.

Dr. Wilson argues that a lot of people do not know they harm their bodies when they do not hydrate so he encourages even those that cannot make due on the hospital bills to drink at least a liter of water a day. Drinking water is important for one to keep healthy though, what kind of water are you drinking? clean, boiled water is what we are advised to drink to avoid mood change, dehydration, unclear thinking. Not drinking water can also result in constipation or the development of kidney stones which can lead to other complications.