Obongi Health Centre IV, which handles nearly 1,400 deliveries annually despite significant staffing and resource constraints, has received maternal health equipment and supplies boost worth Shs40 million from Stanbic Bank Uganda.
The donation includes 20 hospital beds, 30 mattresses, two patient monitors and 200 Mama Kits intended to strengthen maternal and child healthcare services at the district’s main referral facility.
Health officials at Obongi say the support comes at a time when demand for services continues to rise in a district of more than 240,000 people, including refugee-hosting communities.
According to Dr Tagule Sunday, the Assistant District Health Officer in charge of Maternal and Child Health, Obongi Health Centre IV conducts approximately 1,388 deliveries every year, including 322 Caesarean-section procedures.
The facility serves as the district’s main referral centre and receives patients from across Obongi and neighboring areas.
Speaking during the handover ceremony, Stanbic Uganda Holdings Chief Executive Mr Mark Ocitti Ongom said improving access to essential healthcare requires collective action by government, the private sector and communities.
“A nation’s social progress cannot be the responsibility of government alone. It depends on government providing leadership, the private sector investing responsibly, and citizens and communities playing their part,” Mr Ocitti said.
He said the donation would help strengthen the facility’s capacity to support mothers, newborns and healthcare workers.
“This is a practical investment in dignity: safer deliveries, better patient care and stronger support for the health workers who serve families every day. Every mother deserves a safe environment in which to give life, and every child deserves a healthy beginning,” he added.
Obongi County MP Hassan Kaps Fungaro said the health centre continues to face a critical shortage of personnel, operating at only 32 per cent of its required staffing levels.
He noted that workforce shortages, coupled with limited access to modern medical equipment, continue to affect service delivery in the district.
The Assistant Resident District Commissioner, Ms Eva Kwesiga Nalongo, welcomed the donation and urged health workers and administrators to ensure that the equipment is properly utilized.
“We are a vulnerable district and hard to reach, but with support like this from partners like Stanbic, we stand firm that soon this young district will overcome our prevailing challenges,” she said.
The donation was made under Stanbic Bank’s annual October Love Month community outreach programme and forms part of activities marking the institution’s 35 years of operations in Uganda. Among those present was Stanbic Bank Uganda Executive Director and Head of Personal and Private Banking, Mr Sam Fredrick Mwogeza.
