Summary
A joint field visit to western Uganda by Professor Matthew Allsop and Dr. Will Goodman from the University of Leeds, alongside Lokiru Samuel from APCA and data assistant Emmanuel Mutoto, explored the realities of palliative care delivery in resource-constrained settings, including a visit to Bujubuli Health Centre IV within the Kyaka II Refugee Settlement. Clinicians there described working with limited medicines, overstretched staff, and fragmented paper records, serving patients with advanced cancer, HIV, and other life-limiting conditions — many of whom had lost continuity of care due to displacement. At the centre of the visit was the mPallCare platform, a digital tool developed through collaboration between APCA, researchers, clinicians, and technology partners, designed to support holistic assessment, symptom monitoring, and clinical documentation across settings. Professor Allsop, whose decade-long relationship with APCA began during a self-funded placement in Uganda, emphasised that the tool is not about technology for its own sake, but about making limited resources work more effectively and equitably — and crucially, making the suffering of underserved populations visible through data. The Uganda Ministry of Health, represented by Commissioner Dr. Moses Muwanga, has been closely involved in the pilot, recognising the need to ground the tool in real health system realities. While challenges of connectivity, staffing, and scalability remain, the visit underscored that moving beyond the pilot stage requires aligning the platform with existing clinical workflows and local contexts — with similar work already expanding to Malawi and Nepal.
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