An interview with Kabugo Hannington from Parkinson’s si buko Uganda on September 19, 2023 by George Ackerman, Ph.D, J.D.
Biography
My name is Hannington Kabugo am the last born and only boy at home born on April 8, 1984 went to school and joined University and hold a bachelor’s degree in food processing technology and have 3 biological kids and 4 Foster children.
Can you tell me more about your advocacy?
Am the founder of Parkinson’s si buko Uganda (Parkinson’s isn’t witchcraft) this came after losing my mom with PD who was abandoned and called a witch because of her Parkinson’s.
What is your passion and how did you get involved in Parkinson’s awareness and hope for a cure?
My passion is to change the stigma about PD and bring back the families together of people’s Parkinson’s loved ones. I got involved in the awareness after my mom’s death and seeing and remembering how she suffered with PD alone people running away from her thinking she’s a witch and having a wrong myth about PD us the reason i fully got involved in the awareness in Uganda.
What type of goals do individuals with Parkinson’s have when working with you?
Getting medication, awareness and reuniting them with their abandoned families.
What type of training and how long are the programs?
Continuous medical training and community health awareness campaigns of Village health workers that take a day for both.
What effect can your advocacy have on an individual with Parkinson’s?
Uniting Parkinson’s abandoned families together and exercises to help them in slowing the progression and letting them know PD is a science and you can leave happily with your Parkinson’s loved ones.
What would you like to see as a future goal for your advocacy?
Getting medication and exercise tools and walkers to the patients and bringing more awareness to the whole country and let everyone know Parkinson’s isn’t without rather a science.
What events do you participate in?
Fun runs, medical camps, music galas and football.
How does your advocacy also assist the caregivers?
Give knowledge on how best to care for PWP and give literature both translated to the commonly spoken languages in Uganda.
How can someone get in touch? What is your website?
Through social media, email, telephone contact and www.parkinsonssibuko.org
How can others also become advocates for awareness?
By having passion and love without hoping for payment in return and having history of PD.
What is the plan for the PD stigmatized countries in the world?
My plan is to have more trainings of health workers and community health workers who identify Persons with PD symptoms and talk to their communities about facts about PD.
Have PD literature translated in the commonly understandable languages of the communities.
How can low-income countries gain more assistance in the medication and awareness with affordable and availability of literature and medication?
Have more training and translated literature in their commonly spoken languages so that everyone understands.
Talk to pharmaceutical companies to have medication affordable to everyone and their governments deduct taxes on the PD medication.
If you had one final statement or quote you could leave for the Parkinson’s community, what would it be?
Let’s all join hands and help other parts of the world that suffer with PD stigma and lack of medication.