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The tailoring class sponsored byDONATETRACK enters the third month .We were able to accommodate only eight students out of over thirty student initially admitted ,thereby leaving out many more students .The reason is that we only have one sewing machine .We need to purchase an additional machine for about $90 usd .We are asking for donations .Please go to www.donatetrack.com to help to purchase another sewing machine so as to be able to admit more students to the tailoring class.

By SHABIBAH NAKIRIGYA

One dental surgeon serving 140,000 Ugandans - experts

Dentists under their umbrella Uganda Dental Association (UDA) have said the country urgently needs more dental surgeons to bridge the current pathetic ration of one dentist serving more than 142,000 Ugandans.

Dr Twaha Ayub, the president of UDA, said the number of dentists in Uganda today is very low, with only 302 dental surgeons attending to the more than 42 million people in the country, which he said is overstretching the dentists.

“The ratio of dentists to patients is very low, with one dentist to 142,000 people, yet the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard requires one dentist to 8,000 patients,” he said.
“This has made it very difficult for dentists to reach a good number of citizens and that’s why we have high incidents of dental cases, especially at referral hospitals,” Dr Ayub added.

Dr Ayub, who was speaking during a seven-day, dental health camp in Kampala on Thursday, said 70 per cent of the dentists are in Kampala, with the countryside left without any dentists. The camp was organised by Turkish Operation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) at Saidina Abubakri Muslim Hospital at Kawanda, outside Kampala.

Currently, Uganda has only three institution training dental surgeons. They include Makerere Dental School and Hospital, which is the biggest and oldest facility, Kampala International University, and Uganda Christian University Mukono, which is based at Mengo Hospital in Kampala.

Dr Ayub said there is need to have a functional dental health policy in Uganda, because a Bill, which was passed in 2007, has remained unimplemented for the last 12 years.
“We challenge the ministry of Health to take it up and make sure the policies are implemented when passed. Oral policy has been shielded for too long, 12 years is really a long time and yet we want to improve oral health,” he said.