CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda

CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda
CURE International
CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda is located in Uganda
CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda
Location within Uganda
Geography
Location97 Bugwere Road, Mbale, Mbale District, Uganda
Coordinates01°04′27″N 34°10′18″E / 1.07417°N 34.17167°E / 1.07417; 34.17167
Organisation
Care systemPrivate
TypeNeurosurgery
West Virginia University School of Medicine
Services
I
Beds42[1]
History
Founded2000
Links
Website
Other linksHospitals in Uganda

CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda (CCHU) is a specialized children's neurosurgery hospital in Uganda. It is a private hospital, owned and operated by CURE International. The hospital is also a teaching center in pediatric neurosurgery for Sub-Saharan Africa.[2]

Location

The hospital is located in the city of Mbale, in Mbale District, in Uganda's Eastern Region. This location is approximately 225 kilometres (140 mi), by road, northeast of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.[3] The coordinates of the hospital are 1°04'27.0"N, 34°10'18.0"E (Latitude:1.074167; Longitude:34.171667).[4]

Overview

CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda (CURE Uganda) is a private-not-for-profit (PNFP) Christian hospital specializing in pediatric neurosurgery and integrated spiritual ministry. The hospital was officially opened by H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, on January 19, 2001.

CURE Uganda plays a unique role as the first hospital in Sub-Saharan Africa to specialize in treating the neurological needs of children. It is a 77-bed specialty teaching hospital.In addition to providing charitable treatment for children, CURE Uganda ultimately endeavors to make advanced neurosurgical care available around the globe by training other neurosurgeons from Africa and other regions of the world.

Each year, CURE Uganda provides life-saving brain surgery for over 2,200+ patients and treats more than 10,000+ outpatients with neurological conditions.

The hospital is recognized as a center of excellence for pediatric neurosurgery. Neurosurgical diseases treated here include hydrocephalus, neural tube defects, spina bifida, epilepsy, and brain tumors.[2] Infant hydrocephalus is one of the most common congenital abnormalities affecting the nervous system of children around the world. Since its inception, CURE Uganda has performed more life-saving surgeries for children with hydrocephalus ("accumulation of water on the brain") and spina bifida than any other hospital in the world.

Training programs

CURE Neuro is a specialized program operating out of CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda (Mbale), focused on helping children with hydrocephalus and spina bifida survive and thrive. It operates across three core pillars: Treatment The program follows a comprehensive, research-informed strategy built on early detection, timely intervention, focused follow-up, and compassionate care. All treatment is provided free of charge to patients and families.

CURE Neuro has over 15 years of experience in the endoscopic treatment of hydrocephalus, performing more than 1,000 surgeries annually. The program trains neurosurgeons on-site through its fellowship, drawing on expert surgical and clinical faculty to build regional capacity across Africa.

With 25+ publications in leading journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, CURE Neuro actively informs global practice in the treatment of hydrocephalus and spina bifida. It maintains a network of fellows and research partners worldwide.

Neurosurgeons and medical institutions can engage with CURE Neuro through its fellowship program, partnership treatment locations, or research collaborations.

Program for advanced training in hydrocephalus

CCHU trains resident doctors in endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV), a procedure for the treatment of hydrocephalus, a condition characterized by the accumulation of fluid around the brain. CCHU offers a program to provide training and equipment to establish three new ETV Centers each year. iPATH Fellows train at CCHU for three months and, upon completion of their training, establish a center for the surgical treatment of hydrocephalus in their own country. CCHU provides approximately US$30,000 worth of equipment for each new center. CCHU has had iPATH applicants from Ghana, Zambia, Afghanistan, Rwanda, Nepal, Senegal, Honduras, and Madagascar. The first iPATH Fellow to graduate from the program practices in western Tanzania, in a CCHU-aided pediatric neurosurgery center.[5][6]

Comprehensive epilepsy program of Uganda and East Africa

In collaboration with the West Virginia University School of Medicine, CCHU established in 2005 a comprehensive epilepsy program for Uganda and Eastern Africa. The program aims to identify, evaluate and treat Ugandans with epilepsy. It also trains African physicians in the evaluation and treatment of epilepsy, and conducts research on the causes of epilepsy in Africa and best practices for treatment.[7]

Aerial View of Cure Children's Hospital in Mbale District in Uganda
Aerial view of Cure Children's Hospital

Neurosurgeons Benjamin Warf and Warren Boling of West Virginia University performed the first three epilepsy surgeries ever done in the region. The program is ongoing and is being evaluated for further expansion.[8]

Pediatric neurosurgical fellowship

With the encouragement and support of international neurosurgical societies, CCHU has established a fellowship program for pediatric neurosurgeons. It is the only such program in Sub-Saharan Africa. Two neurosurgeons per year will study and work at CCHU, to focus their skills on children and to concentrate on a range of afflictions of the brain and central nervous system.[8][9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Frederick Womakuyu, and Richard Wetaya Lunyolo (1 February 2009). "Cure Hospital: The Hope For Children With Disabilities". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  2. 1 2 "CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda: About the Hospital". CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "Road Distance Between Kampala, Uganda And Mbale, Uganda With Map" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  4. ↑ "Location of CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  5. ↑ "The International Program to Advance the Treatment of Hydrocephalus (iPATH)". International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "CURE Hydrocephalus Surgeon Fellowship Program And Strategy". CURE International. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  7. ↑ Boling, Warren; Palade, Adriana; Wabulya, Angela; Longoni, Nicoletta; Warf, Benjamin; Nestor, Scott; Alpitsis, Rubina; Bittar, Richard; Howard, Charles; Andermann, Frederick (May 2009). "Surgery for pharmacoresistant epilepsy in the developing world: A pilot study". Epilepsia. 50 (5): 1256–1261. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1167.2008.01984.X. PMID 19175392.
  8. 1 2 Aryeh J. Price (1 September 2014). "An Interview With Dr. Benjamin Warf - Treatment of Pediatric Brain Tumors In Sub-Saharan Africa". Globalonc.org. Archived from the original on 4 March 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  9. ↑ CUREIC (2015). "CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda - CURE Hydrocephalus Surgeon Fellowship Program in Uganda". CURE International Canada (CUREIC). Retrieved 19 September 2017.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.