15/07/2026
Preparations are in high gear for this year’s Neurosurgery Camp 2026 at Mulago National Referral Hospital.
Led by Dr. Joel Kiryabwire, Head of the Neurosurgical Unit at Mulago National Referral Hospital, the upcoming neurosurgery camp is expected to deliver substantial and multi-layered benefits to Uganda's healthcare system.
🏥 Expanding Patient Access and Care
The camp is poised to address the critical backlog of patients by focusing on complex and specialized procedures that are otherwise difficult to access. These include intricate surgeries for brain tumors, spinal conditions, and severe trauma cases. The initiative is designed to showcase the hospital's advanced surgical capabilities while reducing the need for patients to seek expensive and often inaccessible care abroad.
📈 Strengthening Long-Term Surgical Capacity
A key expectation is the sustainable enhancement of local expertise. This camp builds upon a long-standing "twinning" partnership, which has a proven track record of success.
Furthermore, the utilization of elective operating room days is expected to improve dramatically to 98%, demonstrating that the local team shall become significantly more efficient and capable of performing advanced surgeries.
🔬 Transfer of Technology and Skills
The camp is also an opportunity for intensive skills transfer and the introduction of advanced techniques. The presence of international partners often brings crucial equipment and specialized knowledge. For instance the hospital can now perform surgeries to remove brain tumors through the nose, resulting in smaller incisions and potentially faster recovery times. The camp ensures that local neurosurgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses are trained on these modern procedures and equipment, leaving a lasting legacy of enhanced capability.
In essence, under Dr. Kiryabwire's leadership, the neurosurgery camp at Mulago is expected to be a powerful catalyst for change, providing urgent, high-quality surgical care while simultaneously building a more resilient and self-sufficient neurosurgical service for Uganda.
