She dared to go where many wouldn’t
“When I talked to her upon confirming the COVID-19 case in the district, within 24 hours she had put together a team that came up with a comprehensive COVID-19 psychosocial plan and budget. This guided us well”
When news of a COVID-19 patient in the district broke, Adjumani went into shock. Everyone panicked. Though being hundreds of kilometers away from the capital city, Adjumani was among the first districts to get a COVID-19 case. Immediately, the district leadership convened an emergency response meeting and made calls to health workers, but many initially shunned the call to duty. However, a nurse, Vicky Opia, immediately answered the call and started work that very day.
Besides being hands-on with the patient, she also offered to spearhead the COVID-19 psychosocial team on the district task force. Opia, also a member of the Palliative Association of Uganda, noticed that that component was lacking in the district strategy. To affirm her membership, the Palliative Association of Uganda, celebrated her.
They called her an unsung hero before going on to explain why her presence there was pertinent. “Psychosocial support is part of our biggest mandate during the COVID-19 response as many people and families are stressed out by the pandemic,” they said.
Speaking to New Vision, Dr. George Bhoka, the District Health Officer, said that when Opia called, he was glad because the district task force was short of staff at that time. “When I talked to her upon confirming the COVID-19 case in the district, within 24 hours she had put together a team that came up with a comprehensive COVID-19 psychosocial plan and budget. This guided us well,” he said.
When Opia spoke, it was to emphasize the importance of self-motivation. “Health workers should learn to be self-motivated in the face of pandemics. They should not focus on treatment only, but be part of things such as resource mobilization,” Opia told The New Vision.
She also said that this was a chance for them to also train on how to reduce exposure to the virus. “Every morning, we held a meeting to remind ourselves of the basic things, such as washing our hands,” Opia explains.
By CivSource Team