Mayuge gets Shs14b to fight bilharzia
Celebrations. The South Korean Ambassador to Uganda, Mr Ha Byung-Kyoo (third left), is joined by other guests to cut a cake after launching a campaign against Neglected Tropical Disease at Mayuge District headquarters on Wednesday. PHOTO BY PHILIP WAFULA
What you need to know:
The South Korean ambassador to Uganda, Mr Ha Byung-Kyoo, said over the recent years, his government has implemented various projects to enhance health outcomes.
Mayuge. The government of South Korea has, through World Vision, an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid, development, and advocacy organisation, given $3.8b (Shs14.3b) to Mayuge District to eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
The two-year project, which is funded through Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), is aimed at raising awareness about NTDs such as bilharzia and other parasitic worm diseases.
Speaking at the project launch at Mayuge District headquarters on Wednesday, the World Vision eastern region project manager, Mr Fred Opoka, said Mayuge was selected because it has one of the highest prevalence rates of bilharzia and soil transmitted helminths.
Scientifically known as schistosomiasis, bilharzia is contracted when blood flukes enter the body by way of contact with infested surface water.
The project, that is going to directly benefit 400,000 people, will cover 14 Sub-counties, 512 villages, 446 schools (178,659 school children) and involve 1,074 village health teams (VHTs) across 42 health centres, Mr Opoka said.
In 2003, more than 75 per cent of the children on island primary schools in Mayuge District carried germs that cause bilharzia, a health survey conducted by then district director of health services, Mr Peter Naireka, revealed.
The survey was conducted on several island schools, including Gori, Jagusi, Selinyabi, Bumba, Kaza, Sagitu and Maslya, where it was discovered that 75 per cent of the pupils had bilharzia.
“The prevalence of bilharzia and other parasitic worm diseases in Mayuge District stands at 98 per cent and 68 per cent respectively, and it is on that basis that a proposal was developed and funding secured for the project,” Mr Opoka said.
The South Korean ambassador to Uganda, Mr Ha Byung-Kyoo, said over the recent years, his government has implemented various projects to enhance health outcomes.
Area of focus
Some of the projects, he said, include maternal new-born and child health project in Butaleja District, strengthening maternal health throughout the country and improving water and sanitation conditions in Karamoja Sub-region.
Over the next three years, the project hopes to have provided quality education and training to health workers, adequate supply of medicine, built public washrooms for sanitation and water storage facilities and clean water pipes.
Dr Charles Nabangi, the district health officer, said they have little diagnostic capacity for bilharzia (few facilities to check for the organisms), few health centre IIIs and lack of sensitisation, with a lot of myths and misconceptions from the community who associate bilharzia with witchcraft.
The Resident District Commissioner, Mr James Shilaku, however, said two health centre IIs at Busawa and Jaguzi Sub-counties are being elevated to health centre III, and once upgraded, healthcare in the communities will be improved.
“The project is timely for a ‘very vulnerable’ district like Mayuge whose handwashing and pit-latrine coverage rates stand at 33. 2 per cent and 67.4 per cent respectively,” he said.
