Why are we funding a new Dental Vision clinic in Uganda?

Treating avoidable dental and eye problems helps to overcome poverty.

The medical needs in Bwindi have been largely overlooked by the Ugandan Government’s Ministry of Health, and international support is hugely needed to support the delivery of health services.

The desperate need for Dentists and Ophthalmologists is compounded by the woefully low number of Ugandan doctors who specialise in these disciplines. Uganda is ranked 159^th out of 193 nations in United Nations Development Programmes Human Development Index. There are simply insufficient qualified Dentists and Ophthalmologists to meet the population needs. The ratio of dentists per head of population in Uganda is 1: 158,000 people compared to 1: 3,000 in the UK whilst Uganda has one of the lowest Ophthalmologists per head of population ratios in the world 1: 1.5 million people. 

In comparision, here on the Isle of Man, Nobles Hospital has 2 oral surgery consultants and 4 ophthalmologists plus we have numerous dentists and optometrists based in the community – all serving an island population of 85,000.

Providing a suitable Dental-Vision Clinic has been a long-term goal for Bwindi Community Hospital; it has long been their dream to offer comprehensive dental and ophthalmological medical services.

Previously working with the UK charity REACHBwindi the Rotary Club of Rushen & Western Mann Charitable Trust, have helped establish the current Eye Clinic, which is currently housed in a converted shipping container from where an Ophthalmic Clinical Officer (OCO) examines around 200 patients/month. We helped to secure the training of the OCO (who now works full time at the hospital) and we helped fund the clinic’s specialist ophthalmic equipment.

Current Dental services at Bwindi Community Hospital are delivered from a dental room in the outpatient block from where two Public Health Dental Officers examine in excess of 400 patients/ month.

However, demand for eyecare and dental care services has vastly outgrown the inadequate current clinic facilities.

This new building will change the lives of thousands of locals who currently have no access to these types of healthcare.