After a prolonged period of lamentations about a lack of a health facility to provide care and treatment to the nodding syndrome patients in Pader District, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja has overseen the upgrade of Awere Health Centre III to four with the expectations that the facility will provide a new ray of hope to the affected communities.

Awere is the epicentre of the nodding syndrome in Pader with about 1,316 cases recorded.

"I will get back to Kampala, get in touch with Dr Ruth Aceng (minister of health) to make sure that this facility gets the required equipment and drugs," Ms Nabbanja said as she handed over a memorandum of understanding to the UPDF engineering brigade to construct a Shs400 million theatre at the facility.

The Prime Minister, who was in Pader over the weekend, also broke the ground for the construction of health center III at Te-nam.

Aruu South Mp Christopher Komakech, who invited Nabbanja, says the Awere Health Centre still requires about Shs2 billion.

"To its functionality Awere Health Centre still needs more than Shs2 billion," he said while the district chairperson Fearless Obwoya applauded the government for thinking about the very vulnerable families affected by the nodding syndrome disease.

The upgrade of Awere Health Centre will help the nodding syndrome patients and support the fight against malaria.