07.09.2020

Dr. Peter Mugisha, as a dermatological specialist in the Skin Clinic, who is essentially responsible for the training of the assistant doctors, dies at the age of 38 of a viral pneumonia as a result of a COVID 19 infection

The National Corona Task Force confiscates the body and does not allow a funeral service to be held at the funeral in Kampala. It leaves a gap that can hardly be closed. (S.a. Obituary Dr. Peter Mugisha.)  The following description comes from Peter's friend and colleague Dr. Edward Ogwang, who runs a dermatological practice in Kampala: "There was no ceremony for Peter's burial. The national taskforce brought his body and straight away buried him next to his late father and brother. At their home here in Kampala there was just his sister Esther and a cousin. I arrived a little late but still found few members of the taskforce from Mbarara...".   On 13.09.2020 an online funeral service was held via Zoom-Meeting, in which family, friends, former classmates and colleagues participated. The Skin Clinic was closed until 28.09.2020

The year 2020 was also marked by the corona pandemic in Uganda. At the end of March, an extremely strict lockdown was imposed throughout the country, paralysing virtually all public life and only being relaxed again in June. Particularly dramatic for the population is the complete suspension of public transport services during this period (buses, minibuses, motorbike taxis), on which most people urgently depend for lack of their own vehicles. There is still a night-time curfew, strict masks are compulsory in all public areas; schools are closed, as is the international airport in Entebbe. As a result of the fact that exports to the EU and other countries have been stopped, food prices are currently falling. The Corona restrictions are rigorously enforced by the police. Uganda has been widely praised by the international community for its consistent management of the pandemic, but the consequences for the population are dramatic. The already precarious health care system has deteriorated further and many deaths are believed to be due to lack of or delayed treatment. According to John's Hopkins University, almost 5600 confirmed Covid-19 infections have occurred in Uganda so far; 61 deaths have been reported (as of 18 September 2020). 
The Mbarara University of Science and Technology has been closed since March; it will not be reopened to final year students until 15 October. Several of the eleven assistant doctors at the Skin Clinic have returned to their home countries since the start of the lockdown; nevertheless, patient care was at least partially resumed in June.
The stays in Mbarara planned for 2020 by Prof. Jäger and Dr. Claudia El Gammal had to be cancelled due to the corona pandemic. 

Vienna

25. und 26. September 2020 → postponed on spring 2021
Website: http://www.tropendermatologie.at

For the year 2021 there is still the possibility of receiving support in the form of a scholarship!