Free Medical Camp Brings Specialist Care Closer to 15,000 in Northern Uganda

What the report says

A two-day free medical outreach in Gulu City is offering specialist consultations, diagnosis, treatment and referrals to residents from northern Uganda, with organisers saying more than 15,000 people from the Acholi, Lango and West Nile sub-regions are expected to benefit. The camp is taking place at Gulu Public School and is being run by the APAR Foundation and the Mapenduzi Foundation, with support from partners including Haaree Millers, Bulamu Healthcare International, medical professionals and other organisations.

According to the report, the camp brings together doctors, physicians, nurses and other specialists from Uganda and abroad to provide services such as HIV testing and counselling, treatment for patients who can be managed on site, and referrals for those who need further care. Organisers said the initiative is intended to help people who face difficulty accessing or affording specialised healthcare. The conditions being handled include dental problems, arthritis, anaemia, hernia-related conditions, thyroid disorders, hydrocele, cataracts, other eye conditions, malaria, hypertension and diabetes.

Mapenduzi Foundation Director and Bardege-Layibi Division MP Martin Ojara Mapenduzi said the outreach is the second medical camp organised in Gulu, following a previous event last year that reportedly attended to more than 4,000 cases. APAR Foundation CEO Shantel Patel described the effort as bringing a modern mobile hospital closer to communities. The outreach reflects wider concerns in northern Uganda about access to specialist care; as background, health advocates in Uganda have often pointed to cost, distance and limited service availability as barriers to treatment, though the article itself focuses on this camp and its immediate services.