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Years of Service
Alive Medical Services (AMS) is a not-for-profit non-governmental organization, established in 2007. AMS is a leader in the HIV/AIDS and SRHR Response in Uganda. AMS Medical Centre located in Namuwongo works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, saving lives and provides all services to clients free of charge. Annually, AMS provides comprehensive and differentiated high quality HIV/AIDS/SRHR prevention, care, treatment and support and other medical services to over 218,000 vulnerable clients in Kampala, Mukono, Wakiso and beyond with love and dignity.
A world in which those in need of medical care have access to state-of-the-art medical services provided with love and dignity
AMS exists to provide and model comprehensive prevention, care, treatment and support of HIV and other health needs for its clientele using a holistic approach incorporating education, training and research to empower them live a quality life
Alive Medical Services has emphasized that this is not the time to slow down the efforts on global AIDS, but rather that we must grab the moment to build on the progress made and reach an AIDS free generation.
Alive Medical Services seeks to improve the lives of persons living with HIV by providing non-discriminatory universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, support and care.
To bring about an HIV-free Uganda, AMS tests over 600 new clients every month, linking an average of 96 new HIV-positive clients to quality, comprehensive care. In addition, AMS provides free anti-retroviral treatment (ART) to over 13,000 clients, including 1,500 HIV-positive youth and adolescents.
AMS is accredited by the Ministry of Health Uganda to carry out voluntary counselling and testing for HIV free of charge. AMS tests over 600 new clients every month, linking an average of 96 new HIV-positive clients to quality, comprehensive care. Full clinical tests are administered on a six-month basis, providing ongoing monitoring of patients’ clinical condition and response to first-line treatment. From January to July of 2017 alone, AMS reached 14,565 patients with general care and conducted 69,825 laboratory tests.
Voluntary counselling and testing are a linchpin between prevention, treatment, care, and support. These services which are entirely confidential are available from Monday to Saturday, 8 to 6. Clients are welcome to walk in for testing services without an appointment.
AMS serves children and adults, offering in-patient and out-patient care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. HIV positive patients receive all care free of charge, including the prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections, such as tuberculosis, skin disorders, and malaria. AMS provides differentiated services for patients: we have a youth wing with specific youth- and adolescent-friendly services, for example, which helps young people feel at ease and in effect, increases their retention rates. We also have specific days for mothers, pregnant women, and infants.
To ensure we are reaching the most vulnerable, AMS conducts community outreaches and home-based care visits every week. We also establish satellite outreaches in particularly disadvantaged communities, where we target children living on the street and sex workers. Nearly 1,000 of our patients receive complementary transportation, allowing them to get the care they need regardless of financial restrictions or physical immobility.
When necessary, AMS provides transport for critically ill clients to the National Referral Hospital, which is equipped with an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for severe cases.
AMS’ counselling department has a robust strategy in place to ensure clients are adhering to their medication and receiving the support they require. AMS offers individual pre- and post-test counselling, adherence counselling, couples counselling, crisis counselling, and more, all with the assistance of community health workers and peer educators.
With help from AMS’ community health workers and peer educators, the counselling department follows up with patients who miss their appointments at one week, one month and three month intervals.
Additionally, the Counselling Department works with the psychosocial support groups to strengthen peer networks, help clients connect with one another, and train clients on income-generating activities to improve their lives.
Every day, our staff give daily health talks to clients waiting in our queue. Staff cover a broad range of topics, including nutrition, adherence, family planning and beyond.
AMS evaluates the health of babies born to HIV-positive women through DNA-PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing. This test enables us to confirm the HIV status of infants as young as 6 weeks of age, rather than waiting for an HIV antibody test at 18 months. Staff follow-up on final infection status of these babies after they are weaned off breastfeeding.
Every month, AMS immunizes children against a number of diseases, including tuberculosis, polio, tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough, hepatitis B and measles, among others. During these immunizations, children are also tested for HIV. At every encounter, AMS encourages mothers, fathers, and guardians to bring their children to the clinic for testing as part of the national Know Your Child’s Status initiative.
In keeping up with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommendation of Option B-plus, AMS provides antiretroviral treatment to pregnant HIV-positive women. Since 2013, AMS has completely eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV, helping HIV positive mothers give birth to over 1,000 HIV negative babies.
AMS offers a weekly Antenatal Clinic on Thursdays, where HIV-positive pregnant women receive comprehensive care. These services include the provision of intermittent preventative treatment (IPT) for diseases such as malaria. We prepare mothers for delivery throughout their pregnancy, and work through established referral systems with nearby hospitals to ensure the safe delivery of all babies.
AMS provides family planning services for thousands of women every year. We offer pills, injections, condoms, implants and IUDS, and counsel women to help them decide what option works best for them. Family planning services help decrease maternal, neonatal and child mortality due to HIV/AIDS, and help ensure women have control over the growth of their families. AMS provides an average of 4,500 women with family planning services annually, most of whom are HIV positive.
AMS offers a wide range of short-term and long-term family planning methods, free of charge to all clients at the facility and in the community. Providing a broad range of quality options on site continues to be very important for the sexual and reproductive health of clients and the community outreaches help us reach women in their community. Throughout Uganda, access to family planning methods continues to be low, with only 30.4% of women using any method. AMS has continued to provide all clients with access to family planning information and methods, in an effort to increase uptake. Provision of family planning methods supports AMS’ EMTCT program and contributes towards the reduction in maternal, neonatal, and young child mortality due to HIV/AIDS and other diseases, in line with the Poverty Eradication Action Plan targets and Millennium Development Goals.
The cases of unwanted and unplanned pregnancies especially among adolescents and young adults still exist and for that reason, AMS offers family planning in the 33 facilities health facilities it supports in Mukono, Wakiso, and Kampala. Annually a total of over 17,216 women of productive age are reached with different family planning methods across the three districts through the SRHR project. These services include Hormonal IUD, Injectable contraceptives, Implants, pill contraceptives and condoms.
In partnership with Frontline AIDS as funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, AMS is currently implementing a five-year SRHR/HIV programme. The programme aims to contribute to improved national HIV and SRHR outcomes in Uganda especially among young people ages 10 to 25 in thirty-three facilities in the districts of Kampala, Mukono and Wakiso.
This is to be achieved by expanding access and increased use of quality, inclusive and integrated SRH/HIV Services. In addition, the programme focuses on promoting the adoption of safer sexual practices among young people by creating an enabling SRHR and HIV environment.
The AMS laboratory staff conduct about 6,000 laboratory tests every month, an average of 200 tests per work day.
Our laboratory provides confirmatory tests for first line positive results and, if confirmed positive, baseline CD4 count tests. Other lab tests include full blood count, liver, renal and serum electrolyte tests. In addition, AMS carries out viral load testing for each patient to monitor treatment and health status.
Based on our successful laboratory services and our high volume of patients, the Government of Uganda provided AMS with a gene x-pert machine in July 2014. The gene x-pert machine is used to facilitate tuberculosis tests, allowing us to carry out a tuberculosis clinic in a secluded area of our compound every Thursday of the week. AMS also conducts tuberculosis sputum induction tests for children.
AMS’ pharmacy is located on site, which allows patients to see doctors, receive treatment and support, and pick up their medication all in one place.
Adequate nutrition is essential for everyone’s health. But for those affected by HIV, nutrition can be a matter of life or death. Under-nutrition both results from and contributes to HIV progression: the virus changes the body’s metabolism, impairs nutritional intake, and leads to weight loss, while deficiencies in nutrition increase HIV replication and viral load, the malabsorption of anti-retroviral therapy, and susceptibility to opportunistic infections. By worsening the outcomes of HIV, poor nutrition can contribute to a faster progression of the virus, and as a result, an increased risk of mortality.
Recognizing the critical role nutrition plays for HIV-positive individuals, AMS has integrated nutritional services into the treatment plan since the clinic’s launch in 2007. We assess our clients at every appointment, using the mid-upper arm circumference and body mass index measurements, along with z-scores for paediatric patients. If a client is malnourished, we enrol them in our Food Program, where they receive 7 kilograms of rice, 7 kilograms of beans, and 1 kilogram of sugar twice a month. Over 1,500 clients are currently taking advantage of this food program, which has a duration of approximately six months for each client enrolled.
Throughout that time, we engage clients in income-generating activities, ensuring they do not become dependent on food distributions. In addition, we educate clients on proper nutrition and cooking methods during Food Days, helping to boost clients’ understanding of healthy eating.
As part of our pre- and post-natal care programs, AMS provides nutritional counselling to all expecting and breastfeeding mothers. Infant and child growth and nutrition are monitored from birth, and infant feeding counselling is given to mothers whose children are undernourished. Regular infant and child check-ins ensure that the well-being of our young patients is prioritized.
Through a partnership with Procter & Gamble, AMS has helped over 7,200 families access safe drinking water. With an average of nine families benefitting from each “safe water kit,” we estimate that nearly 55,000 individuals are reached every month. We also hold water purification demonstrations once a week, where we discuss the importance of drinking safe water, and the effects unsafe water can have on an HIV-positive individual’s immune system.
The implementation of adolescent and Youth Friendly services in HIV care has ensured engagement and improved treatment outcomes. Alive Medical Services has prioritized the wellbeing of young people and children in HIV care by providing Differentiated Service Delivery Models, and the facility has allocated every Friday to focus on the needs of young people and children in HIV care.
To ensure that children, adolescents, and youth feel comfortable while receiving services, a safe space made up of the youth chill corner and the children's room was created. Here, they receive services that are specifically tailored to their age groups—0–5 years, 6–9 years, 10–14 years, 15–19 years, and 20–24 years—and participate in psychosocial support activities like board games, music, reading, SRHR knowledge, and drug adherence sessions. This program has demonstrated the ability to promote treatment adherence, which has raised levels of HIV viral suppression.
Involving and engaging in their own care across the treatment cascade and through the cycle of planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating programs is key. Peer-driven, adolescent-friendly services, integrated with other services including psychosocial interventions, are effective ways to improve health outcomes for youth and children.
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At 55, Janice found herself at a crossroads when she was referred to Alive Medical Services after testing positive for HIV. Filled with despair, she thought her life was over. But through the compassionate care and support of Alive Medical Services, Janice received comprehensive treatment for HIV and other opportunistic infections, without having to worry about the cost. Gradually, her life found stability, but there was one persistent challenge access to clean drinking water. Living in a community where clean water was a scarce resource, Janice faced the constant struggle of relying on a single well that often ran dry during the sweltering summer months. Left with no choice, she would either collect rainwater or travel long distances to neighboring villages to fetch water. Boiling water to make it safe was not only expensive but also time-consuming and impractical for someone already stretched thin. “If I could barely afford charcoal or firewood to cook food, how was I supposed to spend extra just to boil water?” Janice recalls. “It was exhausting, and with children running around, there was always the risk of accidents while waiting for the water to cool. I desperately wished for a modern solution that could make our lives easier.” That solution came in the form of water purification supplies supported by The Children Safe Drinking Water by P&G , offered through Alive Medical Services. Janice, like many others, was skeptical at first but intrigued by the promise of these small, seemingly magical sachets. Along with her kit complete with two buckets, a mixing stick, and a cloth filter, Janice received her first supplies of water purification sachets. Determined to make it work, she took the time to learn how to use the sachets and explain their benefits to her family and skeptical neighbors. “Slowly but surely, everyone started to see the difference. The water was clearer, cleaner, and safe to drink in just a short amount of time. It wasn’t just about convenience it saved my family and some of my neighbors from the financial burden of finding clean drinking water,” Janice shared with a smile. “We marveled at how such a small sachet could do so much.” With clean water now readily available, Janice and her family no longer worry about falling ill from contaminated water sources. Her children can attend school without fear of waterborne diseases, and the overall quality of life in her household has drastically improved. “Our lives have changed for the better. Having access to clean water has taken away one of our biggest challenges, and it has made such a difference, especially for me, while managing my HIV treatment,” Janice explained. “We are healthier and happier, and I feel a new sense of hope.” The water purifiers have revolutionized households like Janice’s, showing that even simple innovations can make a world of difference in the lives of rural communities. Alive Medical Services is grateful for all our donors helping us to provide these life-changing water purifiers to many vulnerable individuals living with HIV, ensuring they have access to clean drinking water. “I have no more excuses,” Janice says. “Alive Medical Services has done an incredible job of keeping me and my family healthy. I am forever grateful.” This story highlights the power of innovation and partnership in addressing critical needs, showing how access to clean water can uplift entire communities, one sachet at a time.
In most cases, HIV infection in infants and children is passed down from mother to child during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding. In general, physical symptoms of HIV in children include growth failure, various infections of varying severity, wasting, abdominal swelling, skin rashes, and so on.4-year-old Emmanuel was born HIV positive and contracted the virus from his mother during birth. Emmanuel's father was always in tears, worried about his son’s health and survival. He had a bloated abdomen, which was a sign of severe malnutrition and dehydration. Emmanuel's parents split after he was diagnosed with HIV, and his father was terrified of losing his first child to AIDS. Emmanuel's father wasted no time in doing everything in his power to save his son's life. He was also urged to get tested for HIV, and fortunately, he tested negative. Emmanuel's father was counselled, and the baby was admitted to the paediatric ward for immediate treatment of his symptoms. Emmanuel's father was filled with anxiety and questions in his mind: would his son survive? This was his first child. Will he be able to regain his health and play and laugh like any other child? Will he be able to go to school? He was distressed. Emmanuel was readmitted to the hospital a week later, and despite the antiretroviral drugs he was given, he had not improved. He was much weaker and had a severe cough. A GeneXpert test was ordered for the family and taken to Alive Medical Services. A GeneXpert test is a widely used diagnostic test for tuberculosis. Since they were impressed with the customer care and services at Alive Medical Services (AMS), Emmanuel’s father decided to enroll him in care at AMS after the Tuberculosis treatment. Emmanuel's father was encouraged to stick with his son's treatment and not give up. As his son was undergoing various treatments, the health workers always assured and encouraged him about his child’s wellbeing. Despite Emmanuel’s father’s challenges as a single parent, he is grateful to Alive Medical Services and our donors, because his son is now doing well. He now knows that his beloved son will live and have the opportunity to attend school, live in good health, and pursue.
Drinking clean water can reduce the prevalence of water-borne diseases, such as diarrhea and cholera, which are common in developing countries. Because people living with HIV have compromised immune systems and this makes them more susceptible to infections, access to clean drinking water reduces the risk of waterborne diseases, which can be particularly dangerous for their weakened immunity. 65-year-old “Alex” has been in Alive Medical Services’ care since 2011. Because of the city’s high cost of living, Alex faced a new challenge when he moved back to the village where clean drinking water was scarce. Because people living with HIV have a relatively weakened immune system, Alex needed to avoid waterborne illnesses. Alive Medical Services has always prioritized the distribution of P&G water because it is designed to remove harmful bacteria and viruses, including those that cause cholera and typhoid. Through the regular health talks offered by the health workers every morning at the facility, Alex decided to try it out of desperation as he always faced stomach aches. “Using this water purifier has become part of my daily routine, one sachet making 10 liters for me to use daily has saved my finances. Over time, I have even noticed I don’t get the stomach aches, which I always mistook as ulcers. My health has stabilized and I have gained more confidence in the purifier, in our local language we call it water guard.” One of the things that excites Alex while at the facility, is that whenever he is here, the water used during the demonstration is usually left for anyone who would love to quench their thirst as they wait to be seen by the doctor. Beyond health benefits, using the purifier became a symbol of resilience for Alex. It wasn't just about clean water; it represented his determination to live a full life despite living with HIV and getting older. Because of the partnership P&G made with Alive Medical Services, people living with HIV just like Alex have realized the profound impact of access to clean water on health outcomes. Because of your support, Alive Medical Services has provided essential resources like water purification to empower them to lead healthier and more fulfilling lives. Thank you for being a vital part of our community and for believing in our mission. Such acts of kindness give us hope that we are moving steps closer to a world where everyone living with HIV has access to the care and support they need.
