Karenga District has received a modern district drug store worth UGX 394 million to improve the storage and management of medicines and health supplies. The fully equipped facility was handed over to the district on Tuesday by the Irish Ambassador to Uganda and is already operational.
The project was funded by the Government of Ireland through Doctors with Africa CUAMM and is expected to address years of challenges where medicines were kept in unsuitable spaces at district offices and health facilities, leading to damage, losses, and shortages. Karenga District Health Officer, Dr. Andrew Rews Ilukol, said the investment demonstrates Ireland’s commitment to strengthening public health systems in the district and reducing maternal and newborn deaths.
Ilukol said the programme went beyond constructing the drug store by also focusing on strengthening health systems, human resources, referral pathways, community engagement, and district ownership to ensure sustainability. He said the intervention has contributed to improved access to emergency obstetric and neonatal care, better referrals, ambulance services, and reduced maternal and newborn mortality. With support from CUAMM, the district also recruited an anaesthetic officer to provide critical services.However, Ilukol said challenges remain, with about 55 percent of residents accessing healthcare services while 45 percent live in hard-to-reach areas such as Kawanakol Sub-county, where delivering services requires additional resources.
Dr. Nicholas Banya, the in-charge of Karenga Health Centre IV, said the facility serves as a referral centre for the entire district and neighbouring areas, including Kitgum and parts of South Sudan, located about 40 kilometres away. Banya said the facility receives between 100 and 200 patients daily but continues to face staffing gaps, with only six nurses handling both outpatient and midwifery services while the clinical department remains understaffed. He said the new drug store will improve the management of medical supplies that were previously kept in any available space at district offices or health facilities. “The medical store will help with the proper storage of drugs supplied. Initially, any supplies from the district used to be kept at any space available from both district offices or at the health facility,” Banya said.
The Irish Ambassador to Uganda, H.E. Mags Gaynor, said the drug store is part of Ireland’s wider investment in Karamoja, estimated at 50 billion shillings annually in areas including education, climate, governance and health. “We are investing in the people of Karamoja and in the future of Uganda and ensuring that support reaches the people who are most remote and most in need,” Gaynor said.She said Ireland can now see the impact of its support through improved storage facilities, cold chain systems, and delivery of medicines to remote communities.
Dr. Peter Lochoro, CUAMM Country Representative, said the partnership involves more than infrastructure development, adding that the organisation is also supporting district health teams in supervision, health data management, and training of health workers on medicine handling. “We are supporting the district health team to supervise health facilities, manage data and health information, and train staff on how to handle medicines,” Lochoro said.
Ireland is supporting a three-year programme titled Strengthening District Health Systems for Improved Access to and Utilization of Quality RMNCAH Integrated Services in Karamoja, implemented by CUAMM. The programme’s final year runs from November 2025 to October 2026 and is funded through a Sh2.606 billion grant, bringing Ireland’s total investment in the partnership since 2021 to approximately Sh18.4 billion.
The programme aligns with Uganda’s RMNCAH Sharpened Plan, National Development Plan IV, Sustainable Development Goal 3 on health and wellbeing, and Ireland’s policy of reaching communities most in need. After commissioning the Karenga drug store, the Irish delegation and the CUAMM team visited Kaabong General Hospital to inspect renovations of the neonatal intensive care unit and a new water tank system, among other projects-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
