Building Critical Care Capacity in a Low-Income Country

Arthur Kwizera; Cornelius Sendagire; Yewande Kamuntu; Meddy Rutayisire; Jane Nakibuuka; Patience A Muwanguzi; Anne Alenyo-Ngabirano; Henry Kyobe-Bosa; Charles Olaro

doi:10.1016/j.ccc.2022.07.003

Building Critical Care Capacity in a Low-Income Country

Crit Care Clin. 2022 Oct;38(4):747-759. doi: 10.1016/j.ccc.2022.07.003.

Authors

Arthur Kwizera¹, Cornelius Sendagire², Yewande Kamuntu³, Meddy Rutayisire², Jane Nakibuuka⁴, Patience A Muwanguzi⁵, Anne Alenyo-Ngabirano⁶, Henry Kyobe-Bosa⁷, Charles Olaro⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Makerere University, College of Health Sciences, Plot 1 Upper Mulago Hill Road, P O Box 2191, Kampala, Uganda. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Makerere University, College of Health Sciences, Plot 1 Upper Mulago Hill Road, P O Box 2191, Kampala, Uganda.
³ Clinton Health Access Initiative, Plot 8a, Moyo Close, P O Box 2191, Kampala, Uganda.
⁴ Department of Medicine, Intensive Care Unit, Mulago National Referral Hospital, Plot 1 Upper Mulago Hill Road, P O Box 2191, Kampala, Uganda.
⁵ Department of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Plot 1 Upper Mulago Hill Road, P O Box 2191, Kampala, Uganda.
⁶ Ministry of Health, Plot 6 Lourdel Road, P O Box 2191, Wandegeya, Kampala, Uganda.
⁷ Ministry of Health, Plot 6 Lourdel Road, P O Box 2191, Wandegeya, Kampala, Uganda; Uganda Peoples Defense Forces, Chwa II Road, Mbuya , P O Box 2191, Kampala, Uganda; Kellogg College, University of Oxford, 60-62 Banbury Road, Park Town, Oxford OX2 6PN, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Critical illness is common throughout the world and is associated with high costs of care and resource intensity. The Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic created a sudden surge of critically ill patients, which in turn led to devastating effects on health care systems worldwide and more so in Africa. This narrative report describes how an attempt was made at bridging the existing gaps in quality of care for critically ill patients at national and regional levels for COVID and the postpandemic era in a low income country.

Keywords: COVID; Capacity building; Intensive care units; Low-income country; Uganda.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Critical Care
Critical Illness* / therapy
Humans
Intensive Care Units
Pandemics