On March 18th, 2022, the UYAHF Adolescents’ health (ADH) clinic-Mbale joined Mbale district to commemorate International Women’s Day.
The celebration, held as a post women’s day celebration at the district headquarters in Busoba, kicked off with a melodious band procession led by the district officials and joined in by local leaders, religious leaders, different women’s groups, students, female police officers, UYAHF change champions, and the UYAHD ADH clinic team, among other members of the public.
During the celebration, a team from the clinic led by Dr. Namonyo Franco provided free SRHR services and information to over 200 people, including HIV testing and counseling, STI testing and care, SGBV screening, family planning, and free condom distribution, among others. According to Dr. Franco, of the 202 people who successfully received the various services, 130 were female and 72 were male.
“We are very happy that we used this celebration as an opportunity to provide free services to people. It is rare on normal days to pull such a number considering the fact that people are busy as they try to make ends meet, so this day provided an avenue for reaching out to as many people as possible with health services. ” He added.
Franco says the clinic has a social responsibility to support the community with free health services and information, which he notes that they are committed to doing.
The clinic team also distributed 17,280 pieces of condoms to the community members, including local markets, boda boda stages, and the local police station, and also taught them how to correctly use them.
Sister Esther, a nurse at Busiu Health Centre IV, lauded UYAHF’s efforts, noting that this is a great boost to the health facility in the area because they may not be able to reach everyone with such health services.