Thousands of runners filled the streets of Mbale on Saturday morning for the 10th Annual CURE Brain Surgery Run, which Speaker of Parliament Jacob Marksons Oboth officially flagged off, according to Red Pepper. The Speaker was joined by State Minister for Public Service Lydia Wanyoto, other lawmakers, local dignitaries and a large crowd of supporters. The event raises funds for CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda, which provides brain and spine surgery to children at no cost to their families.
Why it matters
According to Red Pepper, the hospital carries out more than 2,200 specialised brain and spine operations each year and treats over 10,000 outpatients annually. The conditions it handles include hydrocephalus, commonly known as fluid on the brain, and spina bifida. Red Pepper reports that these procedures are provided entirely free to poor families, with costs covered through sponsorships from donors in Uganda and abroad.
That funding model is what the run exists to sustain. Every entry and every kilometre covered on Saturday was directed toward keeping the hospital's surgical theatres running, the outlet reported.
A personal debt, not a podium speech
Red Pepper describes the Speaker's address as the emotional centre of the morning. Oboth set aside formal remarks and told the crowd he was present not only as a national leader but as someone whose own life had been affected by the Mbale facility, having brought a patient there for treatment.
"I am here on a personal duty to pay back what this hospital did," Oboth said, according to Red Pepper.
He described CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda as a leading centre for pediatric neurosurgery serving Eastern and Central Africa. The Speaker also argued that saving a single child's life has wider consequences, reaching the child's family and, by extension, the community around them, Red Pepper reported.
Taking on stigma alongside fundraising
Beyond the money raised, organisers and leaders used the event to push back against beliefs that treat hydrocephalus and spina bifida as curses or the product of witchcraft. Hospital officials and attending leaders said plainly that both are medical conditions that can be treated, according to Red Pepper.
The message came with a direct appeal to parents: families should not conceal children with these conditions out of fear or shame, but should bring them forward and seek care at Mbale as early as possible. Red Pepper reports that the plea was framed as a matter of giving affected children a real chance at life.
Oboth closed the morning by thanking the runners, the hospital's medical staff, the sponsors and the volunteers who made the tenth edition of the run possible. He called on Ugandans to keep supporting those who cannot help themselves.
"Let us stand together and ensure that no vulnerable child in this country is ever left behind!" he said, according to Red Pepper.
The next edition of the run, and the hospital's continued ability to offer free surgery, will depend on whether that donor support holds through the coming year.
