Use of a toll-free call center for COVID-19 response and continuity of essential services during the lockdown, Greater Kampala, Uganda, 2020: a descriptive study.

Introduction: on March 21, 2020, the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Uganda. A total lockdown was initiated on March 30 which was gradually lifted May 5-June 30. On March 25, a toll-free call center was organized at the Kampala Capital City Authority to respond to public concerns about COVID-19 and the lockdown. We documented the set-up and use of the call center and analyzed key concerns raised by the public. Methods: two hotlines were established and disseminated through media platforms in Greater Kampala. The call center was open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. We abstracted data on incoming calls from March 25 to June 30, 2020. We summarized call data into categories and conducted descriptive analyses of public concerns raised during the lockdown. Results: among 10,167 calls, two-thirds (6,578; 64.7%) involved access to health services, 1,565 (15.4%) were about social services, and 1,375 (13.5%) involved COVID-19-related issues. Approximately one-third (2,152; 32.7%) of calls about access to health services were requests for ambulances for patients with non-COVID-19-related emergencies. About three-quarters of calls about social services were requests for food and relief items (1,184; 75.7%). Half of the calls about COVID-19 (730; 53.1%) sought disease-related information. Conclusion: the toll-free call center was used by the public during the COVID-19 lockdown in Kampala. Callers were more concerned about access to essential health services, non-related to COVID-19 disease. It is important to plan for continuity of essential services before a public health emergency-related lockdown.

Screening tuberculosis patients for diabetes mellitus in a routine program setting in Kampala, Uganda: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Uganda is located in East Africa and is among the countries with the lowest income globally. The ten health centres in this project serve populations in the under-privileged communities of Kampala. The objective of the study was to implement diabetes mellitus (DM) screening among tuberculosis (TB) patients in a routine program setting with limited resources and high human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional observational study was conducted in ten health centres in Kampala, Uganda. As part of a project to implement DM screening in a routine setting, TB patients were screened for DM by trained health workers. A fasting blood glucose (FBG) value ≥7.0mmol/l was considered to indicate DM. For this study, aggregate data was collected and analysed using SPSS for Windows, version 13.0. Results:  Among 4,590 TB patients registered, 4,016 (88.0%) were screened with random blood glucose (RBG). Of those with RBG ≥6.1mmol/l, 1,093 (83.3%) were screened with FBG. In total, 92 (2.3%) patients were diagnosed with DM and 66 (71.8%) of them were newly diagnosed. The proportion of TB patients screened with FBG in the health centres varied from 58.2% to 100%. The proportion of patients screened with FBG and the prevalence of DM were significantly higher in private health centres compared with public health centres. The health centres in peri-urban areas screened more patients with RBG than those in urban areas. Health centres without DM services screened a larger number of patients with RBG and FBG than those with DM services. Conclusions: It appears feasible to implement screening TB patients for DM in routine program settings with limited resources and high HIV prevalence. Its introduction requires close collaboration between TB and DM services. The challenges identified need government attention and certain institutional and service-related factors need to be better managed at times.