The Medical Field: How Female Health Workers Have Changed the Face of the Industry Arise Reporter
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THE MEDICAL FIELD: HOW FEMALE HEALTH WORKERS HAVE CHANGED THE FACE OF THE INDUSTRY Arise Reporter W omen have always been healers. As mothers and grandmothers, women have always nursed the sick in their homes. As midwives, women have always cared for people in their communities. Yet, when medicine became established as a formal profession globally, women were shut out. However, they didn’t seat back and look on, but rather waged a long battle to gain access to medical education and hospital training. Since then, women have overcome prejudices and discrimination to create and broaden opportunities within the profession. Gradually, they have been able to carve out successful careers in every aspect of medicine. This article highlights the significant contributions that women have made to the health care system in Uganda by narrating stories of female doctors who work tirelessly, every day, to improve the country’s health sector with tremendous dedication, vigor, and passion. At the World Health Organisation After graduating as a medical Africa regional office, Dr Atuhebwe doctor in 2007, Atuhebwe heads the vaccines programme in worked with the International Africa. The vaccines include the Development Research Centre HPV, oral cholera, typhoid, malaria, (IDRC) in Ottawa, Canada. She Ebola, polio, influenza, pneumonia later returned to Africa to work and the rotavirus vaccines. as a Senior Health Systems Advisor with Ipas Africa Alliance, Atuhebwe is a member of several before joining the World Health global and regional technical Organisation. advisory groups that make global Dr Phionah Atuhebwe policies in reproductive health To young girls, Atuhebwe has Mubangizi and immunisation. She holds a this advice: “Stay true to thyself master’s degree in international and work hard. Nothing comes Regional Technical public health from the University easy. Identify people you wish Advisor for the World of Leeds in the United Kingdom and to be like and find out how Health Organisation has received extensive executive they got there. Your inner circle in Africa and Asia on training in project management affects your career; get the right vaccines and innovations and leadership. people in your inner circle.” ARISE 66 • 19 Fund has renewed its commitment to fund health programmes in the country after the financial scandal that hit the ministry. “At the time I joined the ministry I found a huge backlog of cases. Some partners had stopped giving us money because of lack of accountability.” The situation is now improving. “We do not babysit people who are not Dr Sabrina Kitaka Dr Diana Atwine accountable. I get emotional when Senior Paediatrician Permanent Secretary, I get to a hospital and find patients Ministry of Health not receiving adequate care. I would give anything for my patients,” she Dr Sabrina Kitaka is a senior lecturer says. Atwine’s philosophy is that at the Department of Paediatrics and Dr Atwine is a clinician and a there should be value and value for Child Health, Makerere University researcher. She is the Permanent money in everything that is done. College of Health Sciences. She was Secretary at the Ministry of Health a Gilead Fellow and researcher at the and former head of the Health Atwine studied human medicine Infectious Diseases Institute from Monitoring Unit at State House. at Mbarara University of Science 2003 to 2011, where she undertook For the last 20 years, Dr Atwine has and Technology before doing her a fellowship in paediatric infectious been a physician for the first family. master’s at Makerere University. diseases. Perhaps Atwine’s public profile She then studied project planning and management at the Uganda She is currently a PhD candidate at rose while she was at the Health Management Institute and clinical the school of Biomedical Sciences, Monitoring Unit. The unit recovered research at John Hopkins University. University of Antwerp, Belgium. medicines that had been stolen Her PhD study is on the growth, worth billions of shillings, development and psychosocial investigated and prosecuted several adaptation of prenatally infected workers with corrupt tendencies in Under Atwine’s adolescents in resource-limited the health sector. “To date, people leadership, the settings. still call me to arrest suspected corrupt individuals, an indicator of Ministry of Health has regained confidence Dr Kitaka provides advisory the impact the unit made. I take from key strategic services on policy and programme pride in founding the unit that made partners. For example, implementation for children a modest contribution to fighting the Global Fund and adolescents both locally and corruption in this country,” she says. has renewed its internationally. She is involved in commitment to fund conducting basic research on various At the Ministry of Health, Atwine health programmes paediatric infectious diseases and introduced regular performance in the country after offers clinical care to HIV-infected management reviews and biometric the financial scandal children and adolescents. systems in a number of health facilities, which has helped fight that hit the ministry. “At the time I joined She directs the Adolescent Health absenteeism by health workers at the ministry, I found a Training Programmes at the Makerere their stations of duty. huge backlog of cases,” University College of Health Sciences says Dr. Atwine. and is the Founding President of Under Atwine’s leadership, the the Society of Adolescent Health in Ministry of Health has regained Uganda. Kitaka is also a member of confidence from key strategic the African Paediatrics Society of partners. For example, the Global Infectious Diseases. 20 • ARISE 66 enrolling for another master’s degree the decision,” Nakibuka says. in neonatology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa and later Early in her career, Nakibuuka did returning to the hospital. internship at Rubaga Hospital, from where she was posted to a remote She has greatly contributed towards medical centre in Nkokonjeru. She reducing deaths among newborn and was 24. “The health facility had premature babies. She recalls that a high neonatal death rate and at the time she joined the hospital, the wards were disorganised. I about 10 per cent of newborn reorganised the ward and made sure Dr Victoria babies died, which number has since babies had their own section. I also Nakibuuka reduced to about 4 per cent. With trained nurses to give specialised Nsambya Hospital her effort, the hospital has also care to babies. As a result of these reduced preterm deaths from 25 per initiatives, death rates reduced and Dr Victoria Nakibuuka is a renowned cent to 6 per cent. people in the community nicknamed paediatrician and neonatologist and me ‘Musaawo wa baana’.” the Breast Milk Bank at Nsambya “I hate seeing babies die,” says the Hospital, one of the revolutionary mother of three. “When I went for The daughter of a retired nurse has medical undertakings in the country, my master’s in neonatology, I had an since become one of the renowned is her brainchild. option of choosing between doing a paediatricians in the country. She PhD and clinical work. I chose the attributes her achievement to Nakibuuka, whose mother is a retired latter. I have worked on thousands teamwork, a supportive hospital nurse, completed her Master’s in of patients and seeing them live administration and prayer. paediatrics in 2007 and worked for after our intervention fills me with five years at Nsambya Hospital before pride and happiness. I don’t regret Cheptoris attended Nabisunsa Girls’ School and Gayaza High School, Cheptoris describes the situation from where she enrolled at Makerere around the country as miserable. In University for a degree in dental a single health camp, they can treat surgery. After completing her course, over 3,000 children and adults. She Cheptoris refused to look for a job also does charity activities in Kenya and opted to create employment for and Rwanda. herself and six other professionals. “All my eleven classmates went Her inspiration is her late mother- abroad for greener pastures, but I in-law. “If I am granted two hours chose to stay and serve my country,” with anyone who ever lived, I would she says. At 1:200,000, Uganda’s have loved to meet my late mother- dentist-to-patient ratio is worrying, in-law. She was a secretary and a Ashar Cheptoris the reason Cheptoris says she single mum, who raised two doctors Dental Surgeon decided to stay in the country. and a director. I would ask her how she did it and what made her tick. Ashar Cheptoris is probably the only Every year, she partners with dentists On the other hand,” she adds, “if I female dental surgeon from the from America for outreach in the were asked to come back to life as Kapchorwa sub-region. She is the remote parts of the country such as somebody else, it would definitely proprietor of Sinai Dental Clinic in Bwindi, Soroti and Kumi. “We take be myself. The only difference is, I Kampala with a clientele base as far all the equipment from the clinic and wish at age 20 I knew what I know as Tanzania, Eritrea, South Sudan camp in those places for a week,” now.” and Rwanda. she says. ARISE 66 • 21.