Dr Opira: Northern Uganda’s father of radiology goes to rest

When the only radiotherapy machine at Mulago National Referral Hospital broke down in the early 1990s, all roads led to St Mary’s Hospital Lacor in Gulu City since it was the only facility with an active and functional radiotherapy unit in the country.

This meant that the unit would absorb and handle patients not only from Uganda but also from Western Kenya, Rwanda, Eastern DRC, and Sudan, who depended on the Mulago facility.

For the young Dr Cyprian Opira, alias Dr CP, as was fondly referred to, who was in charge of the unit, this was an opportunity to serve even in tough times.

In the advent of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)-led war in northern Uganda, Dr Opira was the only one performing ultrasound for both war victims and obstetrics patients.

When he stepped into St Mary’s Hospital Lacor as a young intern doctor in 1985, Dr Opira did not have any idea that his diligence and love for patients would soon win him a scholarship to Milan State University in Italy where he received formal training and qualified as a radiologist in 1994.

As one of the first few radiologists across the country at the time, Dr Opira returned to Lacor hospital instead of remaining in Italy to build his career or relocate to work at Mulago hospital, considering the dire need for his services at the time when the LRA rebels were terrorising northern Uganda.

At Lacor hospital, where he had been the executive director from 2008 until his death, Dr Opira served for 30 years.

On October 30, Dr Opira died at Mulago hospital where he had been on admission for nearly a month. Due to his family’s request to the hospital, Dr Opira was on Saturday laid to rest at the hospital’s burial ground beside the graves of the hospital’s founder Dr Piero Corti and that of Dr Matthew Lukwiya, who is celebrated in the fight against Ebola in 2000.

Although Dr Opira suffered a long illness and had a vasculitis of unknown origin, which resulted in the amputation of both toes, his commitment never wavered. He was always available for consultation, even on his sickbed, according to a Lacor hospital statement.

“When we realised that his health was deteriorating, we asked him to rest, but he told us he would work for his patients until he could no longer do so,” Dr Martin Ogwang, the hospital’s institutional director, said.

Even on his sick leave, Dr Opira would not hesitate to speak, in his frail voice, to his patients and offer them expertise, through teleradiography.

According to Dr Ogwang, he would ask for radiology images to be transmitted to him for interpretation. To him, nothing could separate him from the love of his profession.

Dr Opira also made strides to ensure the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy, established an outpost at Lacor hospital to train a new breed of imaging experts to serve the population instead of having expatriates flown into the country for the same tasks.

“We are both providing the clinical services, but also training a new group of people who will take over the medical services in the country. With medicine that is advancing quite rapidly, especially in imaging, I think there are a lot of opportunities for us to offer better and more accurate services to our patients,” Dr Opira said last year.

When Gulu University opened two decades ago, Dr Opira was among the medical experts who taught at the Faculty of Medicine, Radiology, including the Mulago School of Paramedical that, until today, uses the Lacor hospital as a practical site for their students.

According to Dr Emintone Odong Ayella, Lacor hospital’s medical director, Dr Opira dedicated his life to improving healthcare and serving our community with unwavering commitment and compassion.

“We honour his legacy and the remarkable contributions he made to healthcare in Uganda because his leadership, vision, and tireless efforts have profoundly impacted Lacor hospital and the many lives he touched,” Dr Odong told this publication.

The (outpost) initiative is meant to provide students and resident doctors with internship opportunities and a unique training experience.

“Dr CP’s core life values were service, care and love for his patients, family, and friends. He had scant attention for the material things of this world. Even as head of the hospital his residence was a modest unit in the remote corner of the hospital complex,”Rtd Justice Ralph Ochan said.

He added: “His devotion to his patients at St Mary’s Hospital was to the exclusion of all other things, except his interest in small-scale agriculture. He leaves behind a beautiful small farm near our village in the fertile land of Pabo. With his vast expertise in his field, he could have had a very successful private medical practice in Gulu or indeed anywhere else in Uganda. I am certain that the thought of private practice never crossed his mind, Rtd Justice Ochan stated.

Dr Max Crescent Tumusiime, the president of the Association of Radiologists of Uganda (ARU), describes Dr Opira not only as a colleague but also as a father, mentor, and inspiration, due to his unwavering dedication to his profession and his compassionate care for patients that remained unparalleled until his demise.

When again Covid-19 struck in 2020, Lacor hospital was well prepared, drawing lessons from the experience during the Ebola outbreak, and was able to mobilise resources in collaboration with the Ministry of Health quickly to establish one of the most advanced medical oxygen systems in the country.

“Beyond his professional accomplishments, Dr Opira was a visionary leader, a humble servant, and a dedicated educator,” Dr Tumusiime said.

He added that Dr Opira touched the lives of many including young doctors who were inspired to become like himself, radiologists and members of the ARU including Dr Denis Acullu, who joined the deceased as a radiologist from 2007 to 2011.

BRIEF BIO

Born on September 11, 1961 to Aneta Ayaa and Urmari Abwoch of Atiak Pupwonya, Dr Opira went to Olya Primary School in present-day Amuru District, St Mary’s College Kisubi, Makerere University, and Milan State University in Italy. When he graduated from Makerere University, Dr Opira came to Lacor hospital as an intern medical officer in 1985. Last year, Dr Opira was awarded the prestigious award for Heroes in Health by the Ministry of Health Uganda for his lifetime achievement