Uganda's Call to Action: Leave No One Behind
In February 2025, Knowledge for Change collaborated with the Ugandan Ministry of Health Disability and Rehabilitation Division-Community Health Department. Together, they planned and delivered a strategic planning meeting on the Disability, Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology (AT) Agenda in Uganda, leveraging the National Rehabilitation & Assistive Technology Strategic Plan 2024-2029. The aim of this meeting, held at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital, was to ensure an organised and harmonised service delivery in alignment with the Government of Uganda’s commitments to the 2017 World Health Organisation’s Rehabilitation 2030 initiative “A Call to Action- Leave No-One Behind” incorporating rehabilitation services into the Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Staff members, including Professor Louise Ackers and Richard Isingoma, shared experiences, research and innovations in rehabilitation and AT services. The meeting was a great success!
Changing Policy and Practice
K4C is excited to announce that Professor Louise Ackers and Dr Raymond Tweheyo recently received the Changing Policy and Practice award for their work in Rehabilitation in Uganda. The award has contributed to improving recognition of Rehabilitation- as a concept- in the Ugandan National Strategic Plan for Rehabilitation. In February 2026, Professor Ackers will travel to Entebbe, to host a consortium of non-governmental organisations, professional councils, and hospital stakeholders, and prosthetic and orthopaedic users, working on Rehabilitation.
The funds will also go towards our ongoing Rehabilitation programmes in Fort Portal, particularly to our onsite orthopaedic technicians and healthcare workers who, for amputees, design, construct, create, fit and repair prosthetics including artificial limbs, and orthotics including braces, insoles and splints. At the newly-constructed workshop, amputee patients will be able to gather for community events, discuss their experiences and provide greater detail and insight into living - and thus designing - prosthetic and orthotic fittings.
You can read more about the award here: Medical Research Foundation | Strategic Planning for Rehabilitation…
Activities
Ninsiima’s Story
K4C’s focus on prosthetics and orthotics began in 2017, stimulated by a woman named Ninsiima who was a victim of domestic violence whilst being 8 months pregnant. As a result of the attack, Ninsiima lost both of her arms from the elbow down, however thankfully her baby was delivered successfully with the support of K4C’s midwifery staff and volunteers. At this point, K4C embarked on a project (in partnership with the prosthetics department at the University of Salford) to provide Ninsiima with prosthetic arms to enable her to care of her 5 children and continue to earn a living through chicken farming. A fundraising campaign was setup and the project subsequently featured on BBC World News:
The Ninsiima Centre for the Rehabilitation of People with Physical Disabilities
Since meeting and working with Ninsiima, K4C has set up the Ninsiima Centre for the Rehabilitation of People with Physical Disabilities in 2022, an intervention in the Orthopaedic Workshop attached to Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital (FPRRH), honoured in Ninsiima's name to celebrate her story. The Centre opened in 2022, with the attendance of our collaborators, Legs4Africa, as well as STAND.
Watch the videos below to hear more about the centre, its work and ongoing sustainability efforts.
Further Reports & News Articles
Rehabilitation Activities
This report highlights the experiences and expectations of prosthetic users when accessing the orthopedic workshop in Fort Portal. It presents overwhelmingly positive feedback, with frequent praise for the provision of free services. The Orthopaedic Technologists deserve recognition for the exceptional care and respect they consistently show to patients throughout the service delivery process.
Patient Satisfaction with Services at FPRRH’s Orthopaedic Workshop
Patient Satisfaction with Services at FPRRH’s Orthopaedic Workshop
Delivering Universal Health Care to People with Major Limb Loss or Damage in Low and Middle Income Countries; A Complex Intervention in Uganda
Delivering Universal Health Care to People with Major Limb Loss or Damage in Low and Middle Income Countries; A Complex Intervention in Uganda
This research focuses on understanding the needs of people who have suffered major limb loss, the challenges facing public rehabilitation services and evaluating some potential solutions. It draws on evidence from the book Delivering Universal Health Care to People with Major Limb Loss or Damage in Low and Middle Income Countries; A Complex Intervention in Uganda by Ackers, H.L., Kenney, L., Huck, J., Ndawula, A. and Murungi, J. (2025 Forthcoming).
This research chapter by Louise Ackers and colleagues describes and evaluates an intervention in the Orthopaedic Workshop attached to Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital (FPRRH) known as the Ninsiima Rehabilitation Centre, beginning with a short history of the workshop describe the evolving intervention and the outcomes achieved.