Relief for families as Lira Hospital receives UGX 500M paediatric equipment

23 May 2026, 1:26 pm

By Frank Oyugi

LIRA — Parents in Northern and Eastern Uganda will no longer have to endure the gruelling financial and emotional burden of long-distance referrals for specialised children’s surgeries.

This follows a major donation of modern paediatric theatre equipment worth UGX 500 million to Lira Regional Referral Hospital (LRRH) by the UK-based charity Kids Operating Room (Kids OR).

The specialised consignment — which includes advanced anaesthesia machines, recovery monitors, operating beds and theatre trolleys — is set to fully operationalise a state-of-the-art children’s surgical ward at the facility.

Medical technology experts and biomedical engineers are already on site, with the theatre expected to become fully functional by early June 2026.

According to LRRH paediatric surgeon Dr Charles Newton Odongo, the upgrade marks a major milestone in achieving regional healthcare equity.

He emphasised that having a fully equipped specialised facility within the region will significantly reduce emergency travel times and the prohibitive referral costs faced by vulnerable families.

The intervention addresses a critical gap in the region’s healthcare system.

Children currently account for 25 per cent of the 10,000 surgeries performed annually at LRRH. While the hospital’s dedicated paediatric unit has successfully handled more than 3,000 complex surgeries since its establishment, the new infrastructure is expected to significantly improve patient safety and surgical outcomes.

While receiving the equipment, the Acting Hospital Director, Dr Andrew Odur, described the partnership as a timely intervention for a hospital experiencing rapid growth.

“This support has come at the right time as the hospital expands and improves paediatric surgical care,” Dr Odur said.

“Once installed, the equipment will greatly enhance patient safety and provide a more conducive working environment for our surgeons and healthcare teams.”

Beyond immediate patient care, hospital management is already looking to the future.

Dr Odongo revealed plans to use the new infrastructure to establish specialised fellowship training programmes in paediatric surgery — a move aimed at training the next generation of child health specialists within the region.