Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Oct;38(4):747-759.
doi: 10.1016/j.ccc.2022.07.003.

Building Critical Care Capacity in a Low-Income Country

Arthur Kwizera  1 , Cornelius Sendagire  2 , Yewande Kamuntu  3 , Meddy Rutayisire  2 , Jane Nakibuuka  4 , Patience A Muwanguzi  5 , Anne Alenyo-Ngabirano  6 , Henry Kyobe-Bosa  7 , Charles Olaro  6
Affiliations
Review

Building Critical Care Capacity in a Low-Income Country

Arthur Kwizera et al. Crit Care Clin. 2022 Oct.

Abstract

Critical illness is common throughout the world and is associated with high costs of care and resource intensity. The Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic created a sudden surge of critically ill patients, which in turn led to devastating effects on health care systems worldwide and more so in Africa. This narrative report describes how an attempt was made at bridging the existing gaps in quality of care for critically ill patients at national and regional levels for COVID and the postpandemic era in a low income country.

Keywords: COVID; Capacity building; Intensive care units; Low-income country; Uganda.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare with regard to this article.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Conceptual framework underpinning this exercise.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
ICU design for regional referral hospitals.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Distribution of planned and built public intensive care units across the country.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Oxygen demand for 2 different COVID-19 scenarios with and without dedicated ICU beds (6800L).
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Prepositioning a buffer supply of cylinders to ensure sufficient oxygen supply for a finite period (Scenario 1).
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Prepositioning a buffer supply of cylinders to ensure sufficient oxygen supply for a finite period (Scenario 2).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. African C-CCOSI Patient care and clinical outcomes for patients with COVID-19 infection admitted to African high-care or intensive care units (ACCCOS): a multicentre, prospective, observational cohort study. Lancet. 2021;397(10288):1885–1894. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00441-4. [published Online First: 2021/05/24] - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Estenssoro E., Loudet C.I., Rios F.G., et al. Clinical characteristics and outcomes of invasively ventilated patients with COVID-19 in Argentina (SATICOVID): a prospective, multicentre cohort study. Lancet Respir Med. 2021;9(9):989–998. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(21)00229-0. [published Online First: 2021/07/06] - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Atumanya P., Sendagire C., Wabule A., et al. Assessment of the current capacity of intensive care units in Uganda; A descriptive study. J Crit Care. 2020;55:95–99. doi: 10.1016/j.jcrc.2019.10.019. [published Online First: 2019/11/13] - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kodama C., Kuniyoshi G., Abubakar A. Lessons learned during COVID-19: building critical care/ICU capacity for resource limited countries with complex emergencies in the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Region. J Glob Health. 2021;11:03088. doi: 10.7189/jogh.11.03088. [published Online First: 2021/07/31] - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arabi Y.M., Azoulay E., Al-Dorzi H.M., et al. How the COVID-19 pandemic will change the future of critical care. Intensive Care Med. 2021;47(3):282–291. doi: 10.1007/s00134-021-06352-y. [published Online First: 2021/02/23] - DOI - PMC - PubMed