Health experts have expressed concern over the high rate of diagnostic failures and medical errors prevalent in Uganda’s healthcare system.
Dr Geofrey Musinguzi, a researcher in non-communicable diseases at Makerere University School of Public Health who recently recovered from rectal cancer recounted previous medical errors that he encountered in Uganda.
For instance, he revealed an incident where a histology exam conducted at a private laboratory in Kampala was found to be entirely inaccurate by doctors at the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) and German medics.
“The rate of medical errors that I personally experienced if I keep quiet about them, nobody will speak about them. I think we need to tighten, you know! There are leakages in the tap, we need to really tighten those leakages because they can actually cost lives. Some of them are really very unfortunate, and I think it is negligence causing this, and it is really very painful. For example, I did a histology examination, a biopsy with one of the facilities in town…when I took the same samples to another facility, everything was just wrong on the medical report. Even myself I circled,” said Musinguzi.
Musinguzi shared his experiences during the launch of his book, which chronicles his recovery journey from cancer. He called on the government to establish clear guidelines and increase awareness among healthcare workers. He noted that many healthcare professionals lacked basic knowledge on essential aspects of cancer care, such as dietary recommendations for cancer patients or how to manage a stoma or surgically open an abdomen to divert the flow of faecal matter.
