President Yoweri Museveni has honored Dr. John Ekure, an orthopaedic specialist who overcame his personal tragedy when his mother died and exploited his opportunities and challenges by investing in a multi-million orthopaedic facility to help other Ugandans.

“The important thing is that he transcended that tragedy and made something out of his life. He studied on a government programme and after he got an education not only as the only specialist orthopedic doctor here, he became something else, an entrepreneur. Somebody who has spectacles to see opportunities and challenges and exploit them is brilliant. I came to give him moral and material support,” said the president.

President Museveni said he would direct the Minister for Works and Transport to coordinate with the contractors building the Tororo–Soroti road to include a section leading to the orthopaedic centre so that the tarmac can protect the equipment in the hospital from dust.

He also pledged to bring electricity to the centre and donated Shs 40 million in cash to buy an electric bone drill.

“This is a private facility but there is no reason why we should not support it, because it is making a great contribution to the heath sector and changing the lives of our people,” he said.

The 40-bed, 25-doctor centre was built by Dr. John Ekure, the only bone specialist in the region. It is the only such facility in Eastern and Northeastern Uganda. The orthopaedic centre is dedicated to Dr. Ekure’s mother, Elizabeth Opola, who was a midwife killed during the insurgency in 1989.

“I wanted to demonstrate to my kinsmen and the youth of the country that it is possible to initiate development projects and stay in the countryside. Let’s be patriotic, together we can do more,” Dr. Ekure said.

Uganda has very few specialist hospitals such as these, and yet 10 percent of Uganda’s population has one form of disability or another. Of the six orthopaedic surgeons in the country, three are based in Western Uganda, two in Northern Uganda and one in Eastern Uganda. Dr. Ekure said the majority of bone-injury patients in the hospital come there as a result of traffic carnage on our roads. The hospital gets patients from as far away as Kenya and South Sudan.

“I do appreciate the challenges our country is facing in terms of human capital flight among professionals. One of the most pervasive myths in Uganda is that government, donors and other funders must shoulder all responsibility for the people’s health, education, welfare, happiness and jobs, simply because we exist. The real truth is that there is only one person responsible for the quality of life that one lives and that is you,” President Museveni said.

The President also cautioned the people against the deadly Hepatitis B virus that is ravaging the region, urging health workers to launch mass awareness campaigns to inform the people. He warned against what he described as “sexual nomadism” and sharing instruments that are not sterilized.

Biography:

Dr. John Ekure was born in Serere District. He studied in Teso College Aloet between 1985 and 1988. He was one of the best performers in his class. After TCA, he joined St. Peter’s College Tororo and continued on to Makerere University, where he obtained Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees. He later pursued a Master of Medicine in Orthopaedic Surgery.

Dr. Ekure is a household name in the field of orthopaedic surgery. He worked in the Kumi and Soroti Hospitals for a long time. He is currently the Executive Director of Kumi Orthopaedic Hospital, one of the first hospitals of its kind in Uganda. Currently the hospital receives patients from all over the country, especially the Eastern region of Uganda, and from other countries in East Africa (South Sudan, Tanzania and Kenya). John is also a prolific researcher in the area of orthopaedic medicine.

In 2006 Dr. Ekure was a winner of the prestigious Braimbrdige Award, ASEA, for scientific research on gluteal fibrosis. In 2014 he received the best Investor in the Health Sector award for specialized services in the rural health sector, given by the Ministry of Health Uganda.

Dr. Ekure is philanthropist who has generously contributed to the causes benefiting the less privileged in society, especially in Teso. He was the most recent past president of the Lions Club Kumi. He has contributed generously to the projects of the alumni of TCA.