/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/689846/-/llycp1z/-/index.html http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/She+needs+Shs2m+for+a+surgery+on+her+back/-/689846/1407728/-/u0m9sa/-/index.html She speaks with a lot of difficulty and pain is written all over her face as she lies on a papyrus mat outside her hut in Paguya village, Awach Sub-county, Gulu District. As we approach, she feigns a smile but it disappears as soon as she feels a sharp pain in her back, she quickly puts her hand on her back in an attempt to soothe the pain. 2012-05-16T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/H+Pylori++the+germ+to+blame+for+peptic+ulcers/-/689846/1407732/-/dd0e3f/-/index.html Maureen Nakachwa has suffered from ulcers since she was 15 years old, with the ailment continued into her late 20s. She has visited every doctor recommended, took every remedy she heard about, but the ulcers persisted. Late last year, the nature of her disease changed when a doctor told her that she had high levels of H.Pylori (Helicobacter Pylori), and that trying to eliminate it was her best chance of treating the ulcers. 2012-05-16T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/Reaching+out+to+those+with+no+access+to+health+services/-/689846/1402692/-/11ssh4j/-/index.html Several factors hinder people from seeking treatment when they fall ill. This is one of the ways to help them get the required medical attention. 2012-05-09T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/Eight+year+old+twins+battling+paralysis/-/689846/1402704/-/m70crgz/-/index.html Just when they were beginning to enjoy life, Pauline Rofina Adong and Petronila Regina Apio’s happiness was snatched away by a paralysis. However, their condition could improve with treatment that requires Shs16m. 2012-05-09T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1398266/-/louglaz/-/index.html She was expecting a child but did not carry it to term. The pregnancy had to be terminated due to complications she developed. Even after this, she still felt ill. After several tests were done, it was confirmed that she had a kidney problem. 2012-05-02T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1398282/-/lougjmz/-/index.html Uganda’s 150,000 TB patients are at a risk of a more sensitive case of TB, if they do not adhere to treatment. 2012-05-02T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1389032/-/lpgct4z/-/index.html George Mukisa lost his genitals in a ritual sacrifice performed by a neighbouring, John Otebati who was convicted over a charge of abduction and sentenced to 15 years in prison. However, Mukisa who was lured by Otebati at two years old with a promise of sweets has since February 15, 2009 spent more days in the hospital than at home to enjoy life like any other child 2012-04-18T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1389036/-/lpgct0z/-/index.html Each year, millions of women and children, especially in the rural areas, die from preventable causes. We must, therefore, do more for the newborn who succumbs to infection for want of a simple drug, and for the young one who will never reach his full potential because of malnutrition. 2012-04-18T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1384484/-/lpjq5nz/-/index.html Sarah Ninsiima had always been a jolly and helpful girl around home. But in 2005, she started falling sick and her parents would always take her for treatment. On one fateful day, she came home from school. As usual, she washed her uniform and took her midday nap. 2012-04-11T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1384488/-/lpjq5jz/-/index.html Faith prevents malaria, so believes Josephine Muhairwe, a Makerere University trained doctor, who now preaches the gospel of using bed nets in Sierra Leone as one of the surest ways to reduce the malaria burden in Africa. 2012-04-11T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1380156/-/lpmkubz/-/index.html More than 4000 village Health Team members in Uganda have undergone orientation on healthy choices. The Healthy Choices Radio Programme is a three–year project (2011 – 2013) funded by UNFPA and implemented by Communication for Development Foundation Uganda. 2012-04-04T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1380164/-/lpmkthz/-/index.html peptic ulcers or open wounds in the lining of the stomach, gullet (oesophagus), or duodenum (the first part of the intestine) are mostly caused by a germ, Helicobacter Pylori and most of the others by painkillers including the darling of Ugandans, Diclofenac. 2012-04-04T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1375934/-/lq5gwxz/-/index.html At five years, Pauline Nasirumbi would probably be in Primary One. However, from the age of three, in all the five schools where her father has tried to get her admitted, she has been rejected because of a swelling on her left cheek. 2012-03-29T12:31:02Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1375928/-/lq5gxpz/-/index.html Every year, over 300 medical students graduate from the five medical schools in Uganda. However, hospitals, especially the ones upcountry still complain about lack of doctors. The problem of lack of human resource at medical facilities is not only a problem in Uganda, but also, the rest of Africa. 2012-03-29T12:26:27Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1371050/-/lq8g83z/-/index.html Everybody wants to keep healthy but many people have misconceptions about the things we do to keep healthy. Most people assume that eating extravagantly is eating well forgetting that there is a lot more to just eating nice food and keeping healthy. 2012-03-21T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1371042/-/lq8g8wz/-/index.html Paul Bogere Jr does not look sick. He does not give off the impression that he has any condition of ill health as he jumps about with his fellow pupils at Kabojja Junior School, or in the extremely playful manner in which he pulls pranks on his mother. 2012-03-21T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1371084/-/lq8g5bz/-/index.html You have probably heard an advert calling upon men to get circumcised - “Circumcision reduces the risk of contracting HIV/Aids,” word goes. However, is this really true? Sylvia, a 27-year-old feels ripe for marriage, but there is a problem. She hasn’t found that man who fits the bill. The men in her age group are just starting out with their careers and with a little money and freedom from the clutches of their parents, they think more in terms of having fun-nights out and parties- till their 30s when they have made strides in their careers and have the money to run a family. All they want is a girlfriend. No babies. No commitment. On the contrary, quite the go-getter, Sylvia is already at managerial level in a multi-billion company. So the ‘boys’ in her age-bracket are somewhat intimidated and find her too mature because by the end of this year, she will have finished her first three rental apartments with a plan to immediately start on others thereafter. That is how older married men-10 years and more-have managed to find a soft spot in Sylvia’s life. “When you have a financial problem, they can easily bail you out with that kind of money because most of them are building as well and properly understand the challenges,” she says. However, it is the men she is having affairs with that quickly give her this kind of financial help without expecting anything in return. The catch with committed men however, is that they are more reluctant than your ordinary bachelor, to want anything to do with condoms. “It is alarming the reasons they give,” she says, reeling off some of them. “Some say they itch, some that it breaks the fun because he has to take time off to wear it, some say it burns them, and others that they don’t enjoy it as much. I literally have to fight with them into putting one on but it’s tough,” Sylvia, who says her friends have had similar encounters, explains. Stories like Sylvia’s may explain the 2009 findings that indicated an increase in the HIV infection rate among married and cohabiting couples to over six per cent in comparison to individuals who were not in a union at 1.6 per cent. In fact, it was found that 65 per cent of all new infections in Uganda occur in married people amongst whom only three to four per cent, regularly tested for HIV. Armed with this information, the scientists whose role is to see an end to the scourge commendably started looking for solutions to address this problem as thus, rolling out a number of being faithful campaigns including the famous ‘get off the sexual network’ campaign. Eventually, new research findings came out, showing there is a 50-60 per cent chance of an HIV-negative circumcised man not contracting the disease from an infected female partner. These findings could have been truly godsend, an avenue for reducing on the infection rate especially among the promiscuous men who are reluctant to wear condoms for one reason or another. But there are sections of people, including scientists, raising dust on the findings. May be, it is the way this campaign is being done that could somewhat be distorting the message. First, stakeholders in the fight against HIV/Aids have been at a loss for some time now. With ARVs, there aren’t as many people dying due to HIV/Aids, a different scenario from the mid-90s when everyone knew someone who had died in a dreadful way due to the disease as thus imparting the fear. With victims living longer now, the initial terror with which HIV/Aids was regarded, is gone - it is no longer considered a serious threat by the public inspite of the intense awareness campaigns. The rates of new infections instead of going down have actually gone up from 6.4 per cent to 6.7 per cent in the last one year, according to a preliminary Aids Indicator Survey 2011. This means the ABC (Abstain, Be faithful or Condom use) strategy is not as effective as it was in the 90s. And that is why the circumcision findings were probably timely as a way of scaling down the HIV infection rate. However, one would be excused to think that a cure for the disease has been found given the long queues at the health facilities that are offering free circumcision services. The campaign has been somewhat successful but at what cost. First, it is not fair on both sexes. For the women, it seems to suggest that they should not worry about their partners straying as long as they are circumcised. “Just look at those posters with a woman’s saying, “I am proud, I have a circumcised husband because we have less chances of getting HIV.” Isn’t that totally absurd? Isn’t it like saying we can disregard corruption just because it has been done to a smaller degree? No woman would be proud of a promiscuous albeit circumcised husband,” an angry Engineer Geraldine Mwesigye says. Faith Namulindwa, a social worker, also thinks the campaign is to an inadvertently introducing the idea of promiscuity injecting the idea that men can avoid HIV to a certain extent if they are circumcised; that circumcision is a permanent condom of sorts? Because half a chance at infection is so much indeed if someone’s life is at stake. Isn’t also like taking it for granted that men do not have the ability to stay faithful? Isn’t this an insult to the faithful men out there? Phillip Ssesazi, a businessman dealing in online forex trading however disagrees with the suggestion that this campaign will only increase promiscuity. Infact, he thinks the campaign is serving the intended purpose of promoting safety, even if it is 50 per cent. “To an African man, having one or two other women he can go to, on that ‘rainy’ day is not being promiscuous. It is only when we are sleeping with five or 10 women that we start to feel a little uneasy, but two three, is normal,” he argues. Ssesazi does not think the men going for circumcision are itching to go on rampage since they now have a permanent condom of sorts. “Men have been straying even while uncircumcised without using condoms or even going for an HIV test with these partners. But now that this option is here, they are thinking, well, just in case she has HIV, I have a chance of staying safe.” The Public Relations Officer of the Aids Information Centre, Marion Natukunda explains that the circumcision campaign is not being used as that one silver bullet that can pull down the infection rates. “Since no single intervention is 100 per cent effective thus providing total protection, circumcision is part of a comprehensive HIV prevention package in our programme. We are not saying that circumcise and be safe, but that you should use a condom when necessary as well staying faithful.” Dr Vincent Kawooya of Makerere University, School of Public Health, who has participated in developing communication strategies and policy as regards circumcision disputes the notion that men will go on rampage as circumcision offers them some form of permanent protection against contracting the disease. He explains; “We are just adding circumcision to the existing strategies of combatting HIV. It is not a stand-alone strategy and the message has been very clear that it is not 100 per cent safe. Take an example of the malaria medication Coartem, it is a combo of two or three drugs that together, effectively fight the parasite.” He further explains that those getting circumcised under this campaign undergo counselling both before and after to clearly understand that circumcision alone will not protect them. It is important to note therefore that circumcision alone without behaviour change will not stop the new HIV infection rate. 2012-03-21T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1366868/-/lqqc7rz/-/index.html Sex is a word that will have many blushing, in fact a child who says it out loud in public will be pinched because traditionally, sex is private, and something to be talked about by adults only and that is behind closed doors. But the fact is that sex is everywhere; music videos, books, movies, even in talk shows under the blanket of innuendo. 2012-03-15T09:01:50Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1366866/-/lqqc7tz/-/index.html You could be looking at your child every day with the chilling suspicion that they might not be really yours. Or you could be that man who should be safe in the knowledge that that child is yours, but would like scientific proof that they are your “blood” because of all the common talk that only a mother knows who the father of a child is. 2012-03-15T09:01:30Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1366864/-/lqqc7vz/-/index.html Imagine waking up to be told you have a terminal illness and that you urgently need Shs57m for treatment. How many people can get such money on short notice? Well, this is the real life story of Caroline Bahazi, the headmistress of Nyarushanje Upper Primary School in Kisiizi. She has applied for her early retirement package such that she can use it for treatment but the process at public service is taking a long time. And yet her life is ebbing away each day that goes by without treatment. 2012-03-15T09:00:49Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1356934/-/lrcueez/-/index.html We live in a society where communication channels between parents and children are blocked by fear, lack of honesty, the busy schedules and work. These entirely end up creating a gap between the child and parent. 2012-02-29T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1356938/-/lrcueaz/-/index.html You must have at some point referred to this category of people as dwarfs. But to the Little People, this term is derogatory. It’s an additional insult to the marginalisation they get from society. 2012-02-29T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1356912/-/lrcug8z/-/index.html Just like any expectant mother, Jennet Anena, 18, who dropped out of Pajule Secondary School in 2011 while in senior three, anticipated having a healthy child. Little did she know that her first born baby would have some abnormalities. 2012-02-29T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1328614/-/lt65u5z/-/index.html Kidneys are a vital part of the body and are important for keeping our acid–base balanced as well as detoxification (cleaning or cleansing our body). “However, as we grow older, the liver and kidney get weaker depending on how much work they do,” Dr Peter Ssebbanja, notes. 2012-02-15T21:00:00Z http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health+++Living/-/689846/1328608/-/lt65uwz/-/index.html Michael Lubangakene, four months, was born with a heart defect that was never diagnosed at birth. As his parents carried him home after birth, little did they know that they had a bigger task of giving their child health care if he’s to grow up like any other child. 2012-02-15T21:00:00Z