Saudi Arabia pledges support for IUIU’s Shs 55 bn hospital*
By Sarah Nalule
The Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) has unveiled a Shs 55b hospital project, aimed at providing quality healthcare services to students, staff, and the surrounding communities. This state-of-the-art hospital will be constructed at the Female campus in Kabojja, which boasts over 10 acres of land.
According to the university’s rector, Dr Ismail Gyagenda, the hospital will not only provide top-notch healthcare services but also offer valuable hands-on experience as a teaching hospital for medical students at Habib Medical School.
“IUIU’s medical school, Habib Medical School, has been operating since 2014 and has graduated several cohorts of medical professionals. However, the lack of a teaching hospital has posed challenges for clinical education,” he said.
The Director of the IUIU Kampala campus, Ahmed Taha Kasule, said that the hospital will provide quality healthcare services, including emergency, surgery, medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, and gynecology.
“We have a medical school here, but our medical students are split among about 12 hospitals in different places during their internship. However, with our own hospital, this challenge will be resolved,” Kasule said.
He added that internship placement is one of the real sticking issues, which is why they want to stabilize the teaching of clinical education by having a standard teaching hospital.
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Uganda, Muhammad Khalil Faludah, pledged to support the project and asked the university leadership to provide a roadmap for the project’s implementation.
“We in Saudi Arabia are always looking to support our brothers here in Uganda and elsewhere in the world because we have an interest in supporting community development. We do not look at color, race, or religion but are eager to serve the community,” Faludah said.
Faludah’s pledge came at the conclusion of his tour of IUIU’s campuses located in different parts of the country, including Mbale, Arua, Kampala, and the female campus at Kabojja in Wakiso district.
