PONT Project Improving access to Oxygen in Eastern Uganda

PONT, a UK registered charity, has been working in partnership with Mbale Regional Referral Hospital (RRH) since 2007. This long-term health partnership has resulted in lasting change in many areas of the healthcare system in eastern Uganda and links into wider projects in the communities surrounding the hospital.

Supported by an emergency COVID grant from the Government of Wales through their Wales for Africa programme, PONT is running a project to strengthen the health system around access to oxygen for patients at Mbale RRH.

This multi-faceted project has seen infrastructure development, provision of surge capacity for both consumables and human resources and a strong monitoring and evaluation component.

Key success include;

• Providing oxygen pipeline and cylinder manifold systems on six wards at Mbale RRH, Improving planning and supply of oxygen by enabling data driven decision making
• Improved infection prevention and control measures during the COVID pandemic and afterwards, through improved hand washing facilities
• Building in resilience to the oxygen supply with oxygen concentrators and oxygen concentrator spare parts.
• Improved safety of intrahospital transport of cylinders with cylinder trolleys and improved walkways.
• Construction of the medical stores’ extension to enable safe storage of medical gases among others

The Uganda UK Health Alliance (UUKHA) are supporting the project by providing grant, administrative and human resource management as well as contributing to the strengthening of the linkage between the project partners and the Ministry of Health