Transcript HUMAN RIGHTS TRAINING IN THE FACULTY OF MEDICINE …

HUMAN RIGHTS TRAINING IN
THE FACULTY OF MEDICINE
MAKERERE UNIVERSITY,
KAMPALA, UGANDA.
DR. JOSEPHINE KASOLO
MAKERERE UNIVERSITY
Background
• Preamble of the Uganda constitution states: ‘All
Ugandans have a right to health’
• Chapter 4 of the1995 Uganda constitution gives
all people equal rights before the law, regardless
of race, creed, sex or political affiliation
• Uganda is a signatory to the International
Covenant on Civic and Political Rights plus, the
international Covenant on Economic and social
rights
Background
• Makerere University Medical School began in
1924, admitting students from Uganda, Kenya
and Tanzania
• It was the first medical school in sub-Saharan
Africa to serve East Africa
• Served the region up to 1972, when the
universities of Nairobi-Kenya and MuhimbiliTanzania broke off from Makerere due to Idi
Amin era
Background
• During the pre Idi Amin era, Human Rights teaching was
conducted as part of the Ethics curriculum
• During the Idi Amin era, the professor of Pathology
taught ethics to third year medical students without
human rights
• Professional ethics was taught during the fourth and fifth
year of medical school
• There was no formal training of the lecturers in either
ethics or human rights
Background
• There was a change in 1986 when National Resistance Movement
Government come to power and human rights became a national
issue once again
• Personal interest in human rights was spurred by the case of
‘Mbabazi’ with the realization that health workers had a role to play
in protection and reporting of human rights violations
• Training was required on how to identify, manage and refer cases of
HR violations
• In 2000, Makerere introduced “Innovations@mak project”
• The topic chosen for the project was ‘Training health professionals
in human rights’ – knowledge, attitudes and practices of health
workers on human rights
Background
1. Doctors and nurses had not read the Uganda
constitution of 1995
2. The information they had on HR were from the media
and hearsay
3. They had no formal training in human rights
4. They did not know what to do when faced with cases of
HR violations like; torture, sexual abuse, child abuse or
domestic violence
5. They were treated as all other trauma cases
Background
• There were limitations to curriculum change
• Content of the lectures on HR was changed to include
sexual and domestic violence
• A group of 7 people to work on the Innovations@mak
project was formed from forensic pathology, ethics, law,
nursing, allied medical professionals, office of the dean
and medical physiology
• While rolling out the human rights curriculum a new
method of teaching was introduced
Current Teaching Method
• With the introduction of problem based learning,
3 years ago, HR is taught in first year alongside
ethics and communication skills
• Human rights is covered together with forensic
pathology and professional ethics in 3rd and 4th
year respectively
• Problems produced that bring out human rights
violations
PROGRESSIVE INCLUSION OF HR IN THE PBL CURRICULUM
STARTING ACADEMIC YEAR 2003/2004
Basic sciences
Clinical
Year 1
YEAR 5
Objectives of teaching human rights to
students in the faculty of medicine
• To have a fundamental understanding of
HR
• To promote, protect and support HR
• To identify, manage and refer cases of HR
violation
• Understand the rights of the patient as well
as that of the health professional
Methods of teaching
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Tutorials
Clinical exposure
Self directed learning
Skills laboratory
Seminars
Lessons learnt
• There is need to train all tutors at all levels
in human rights
• To identify more places for clinical
exposure
• Produce learning materials
• Look for human rights issues in all the
problems.
Way forward
• Tutors should be HR competent
• Integrated curriculum on teaching HR
should be developed
• Need for interdepartmental harmonization
in the teaching of HR
• HR should be a requisite for Continuous
Professional Development