Vital dental equipment heading to Uganda thanks to kind donation
Equipment which will help to provide dental treatment and oral health programmes in a remote region of Uganda is on its way, thanks to a generous donation from Christchurch Rotary Club.
With £3000 donation from the Rotary Club, we can send a portable dental surgery, dental instruments, oral health education materials, sterilisation equipment and other supplies to the Ugandan city of Masaka. It will be used by local dental professional Jolly Mweruka to provide outreach dental care for communities that have no other access to treatment. Jolly is currently using an old sun lounger as a dental chair.
The equipment includes a 20-kilogramme portable dental chair, created in-house at our workshop near Southampton, which can be set up in the open or in classrooms, church halls or community buildings – allowing for makeshift clinics to be held in areas where only basic healthcare services are available. A rucksack packed to the brim with 16 kilogrammes of equipment, including surgical instruments, filling materials, masks, gloves and toothbrushes is also making the journey. The whole dental surgery can be used to provide care in areas where there’s no access to running water or electricity.
“The equipment can be used for a wide range of different treatments including extractions, simple scale and polish and simple fillings,” said Stuart Bassham, workshop manager at Dentaid The Dental Charity, who put the portable surgery together. “We’ve been travelling to Uganda for a long time and built up a good relationship with many charitable organisations during our time there. Being able to relieve people of pain is an important part of what we do, along with our oral health and toothbrushing schemes that improve understanding about oral health.”
The portable surgery will be taken to Uganda by Dentaid’s overseas volunteering team when they set off on June 20th. The team of volunteer UK dental professionals will spend two weeks providing outreach dental clinics in remote and under-served communities, treating up to 1,500 people a day. They will treat members of the communities from babies to people aged over 100. Some will have walked many miles for treatment.
During their time in Uganda, the team will also be sharing their expertise with local health professionals and delivering sessions educating people on how to maintain good dental hygiene.
Gail Taylor, who is leading the team and collected the Rotary-funded equipment ahead of its journey to Uganda said: 
“The equipment will be going to Jolly Mweruka, who works hard to hold outreach projects in Masaka and beyond and works closely with the Rotary organisation there.
“In the past Jolly has had to put patients on sun loungers to work on their teeth, so to be able to provide him with a custom-built chair will benefit him hugely in being able to help those experiencing dental problems.
“We both believe in the same things – providing essential health that bridges the gap between need and access and brings hope to those who need it most.
“With this donation of equipment we will be able to help so many people both while we are in the country and long after we have left and we are very grateful to Christchurch Rotary Club for supporting our work and making this possible.”