Rose’s Corner
Help Build Uganda’s First ICU Dedicated to Burns Victims
In Uganda, if you are severely burned, there’s often nowhere to go.
Every year, hundreds of people —many of them children—arrive at Kiriddu Referral Hospital’s Burns Unit in critical condition. They come from across the country and the region: victims of house fires, acid attacks, epilepsy-triggered accidents, and explosions. Around 80% of these people are actually in need of an intensive care unit (ICU), but…
In Uganda, there is no ICU dedicated to burns patients.
Meet Dr. Rose Alenyo
At Kiriddu Referral Hospital, burns patients in need of intensive care often wait days — sometimes weeks — for an ICU bed. Many do not survive the wait.
Dr. Rose Alenyo, a pioneer in reconstructive surgery and the Deputy Head of Uganda’s National Burns Unit, sees it every day. She and her team fight to save lives with limited resources, doing everything they can — but without the critical care their patients urgently need.
Too often, lives are lost not because of the burns themselves, but because the infrastructure is not there to save them.
Like the pregnant mother caught in a roadside petrol explosion, burning over 47% of her body. She delivered her baby with the help of the burns team — but without an ICU to stabilize her afterwards, she died a few days later.
Or the children from a school fire — many already intubated when they arrived, but without enough ventilators to keep them breathing. Some survived, others did not.
What Would This ICU Look Like?
“We think if we had 8 to 10 beds — divided between children and adults — that would be ideal. But it is not just equipment. ICU care needs trained people. And we have them — several nurses, one anesthesiologist, and one intensivist — this Team just needs extra training. If we had that and the right equipment, we could get it running in around six months.”
The ICU would be built within the existing Burns Center, by converting an entire floor into a dedicated intensive care unit for burns patients.
The envisioned team already works in the burns unit. With the right resources and support they are ready to run the ICU.
The estimated costs of this ICU are approximately $1,000,000 - covering the necessary workforce training, supply and maintenance of equipment, and essential infrastructure modifications.
Discussions with the government are ongoing to determine what resources they can contribute. But the next step truly depends on us securing the remaining funds needed to move the project forward.
The Wider Impact of a Dedicated Burns ICU
A specialized ICU for burns patients at Kiruddu Referral Hospital will not only save lives — it will strengthen critical care capacity across Uganda and potentially the broader East African region.
Critical care in Uganda has made strides in recent years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the number of ICU beds increased nationwide. However, there is still a major shortage of critical care facilities, particularly for specialized needs like burns.
A burns ICU will have far-reaching benefits:
Saving Lives: Burns patients are among the most critically ill, often needing ventilators, organ support, and complex wound care. A dedicated ICU will give them a real chance of surviving their injuries.
Training Future Leaders: Kiruddu’s Burns Unit is already a training center for medical students, nurses, anesthetists, and surgical residents from Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, Burundi, and Congo. A functioning ICU will allow trainees to gain additional skills in critical care, thus benefiting health systems across the region of East Africa.
Raising the Standard of Care: Treating severe burns demands mastery of critical care — respiratory, neurological, cardiovascular, and so on. Improving care for burns patients is a ripple effect for improving the quality of critical care for all patients.
Regional Center of Excellence: Today, there is no burns-specific ICU in East Africa. This ICU will become the first of its kind, setting a standard of excellence for the region as well as providing a model that can be replicated elsewhere.
As Dr. Rose puts it:
"We are already the gold standard for burns care in the region. Building this ICU will allow us to do even more — for Uganda, and for our neighbors across East Africa."
How You Can Help
Ethical Donations of Equipment and Funds
We welcome ethical donations of ICU equipment (such as ventilators or monitors) as well as financial contributions toward purchasing and maintaining equipment, workforce training, and infrastructure for the facility. Every contribution will be carefully accounted for and directly used to support the ICU.
Training and Knowledge Sharing
Partnerships with hospitals, training centers, and critical care specialists are vital. Opportunities for Rose’s Team to receive advanced training — whether through short courses, fellowships, and/or visiting other centers of excellence — are essential to building a resilient and sustainable skillset that provides the best care.
Spreading the Word
Sharing Rose’s story helps the unit connect with new partners, donors, and supporters. GSU believes raising awareness about the urgent need for a dedicated burns ICU in Uganda’s only Burns Unit is just as essential as funding it—given its potential to transform care across the region.