A link was initially established in 2006 between Kiwoko Hospital and the the South Eastern HSC Trust. Employees of the Trust fund raise for Kiwoko Hospital, send equipment and arrange for teams to visit each year bringing particular skills and providing encouragement to the staff. Kiwoko Hospital has been adopted by the Trust Chairman as his special charity. In the first few years several thousand pounds were raised. The effort continues and we are now raising up to £33,000 per annum and by 2011 over £100.000 has been raised.

Kiwoko Hospital is about 50 miles northwest of Kampala, Uganda’s capital city. It was started by Dr Ian Clarke, a GP from North Down in 1987, after the civil war in Uganda. The hospital serves a population of 500,000 with annual running costs in the order of £720,000. These costs are met by patient fees (30%), the government of Uganda (8%) and from external donors (62%). The hospital has 200 beds (medical, surgical, paediatric, and maternity), a neonatal intensive care unit, an outpatient department, a pharmacy, a radiology department and a laboratory. There is a major focus on preventative health care with community health education, sanitation and immunisation a priority. Kiwoko Hospital also runs nurse and laboratory training schools. At present the hospital has 232 enrolled nursing students undertaking the nationally prescribed 2½ year course. It also has 57 students taking the two year laboratory assistants course. The hospital employs 318 clinical and non clinical staff, and is managed by a Medical Superintendent,
Dr Rory Wilson (a GP from Bangor).