The donation, made on Thursday, benefited Bwizibwera Health Centre IV in Mbarara District, Shuuku Health Centre IV in Sheema District and Kabuyanda Health Centre IV in Isingiro District.
The multi-million-shilling intervention is part of a wider three-year healthcare initiative dubbed “Empowering Families, Growing Futures”, which seeks to strengthen maternal and child health services in communities.
The donated equipment includes delivery beds, baby warmers, phototherapy machines and other essential supplies intended to support safe deliveries and improve newborn care.
Many lower-level health facilities in the three districts have faced shortages of specialised equipment, leaving health workers with limited capacity to manage delivery complications and newborn emergencies.
Dr Erias Kumba Kumba, a paediatrician at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital and focal person for the Rotary Club of Mbarara, said the intervention targets the critical period immediately after birth when timely medical support can prevent deaths.
“A significant number of neonatal deaths are entirely preventable if the right equipment is available at the right time,” Dr Kumba Kumba said.
He said equipment such as phototherapy machines, which treat newborn jaundice, and baby warmers, which prevent hypothermia, would enable health workers at lower-level facilities to manage complications before they become fatal.
“This is a game-changer for paediatric care in the region,” he added.
Mbarara District Health Officer Dr Peter Ssebutinde commended Rotary for aligning its support with priority needs in Uganda’s public health sector.
He said strengthening Health Centre IV facilities would help reduce pressure on referral hospitals by ensuring communities can access quality maternal and newborn services closer to their homes.
“Our goal as a district has always been to ensure safe deliveries and minimise maternal and infant mortality rates,” Dr Ssebutinde said.
“With these specialised delivery beds and newborn care equipment, mothers in rural communities can now access dignified, high-quality care closer to their homes.”
The acting Sheema District Health Officer, Kebala Zedrida, said the donation would address longstanding challenges faced by health centres during deliveries.
She said some facilities lack adequate equipment to support mothers during childbirth, especially in cases where newborns experience breathing difficulties.
“Usually we have challenges with delivering mothers at most of our health centres. We do not have equipment for safe delivery of mothers, and sometimes children are born with complications, especially in breathing. We thank Rotary for this donation,” Zedrida said.
Rotary said the “Empowering Families, Growing Futures” initiative reflects its continued focus on maternal and child health, with the goal of ensuring children in Western Uganda have a safer start to life.