Tuesday, April 28, 2009

NEWS: UN calls for more effort against malaria

UN calls for more effort against malaria

Sunday, April 26, 2009 from MONITOR ONLINE

The United Nations office Uganda on Friday called for intensified national efforts to fight malaria, the leading killer disease in Uganda.

The Country Representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Joaquim Saweka stressed in a statement on Friday the importance of long-lasting insecticide treated nets, indoor residual spraying; intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy, epidemic preparedness and response in regions prone to malaria, as well as capacity development and advocacy as methods that will save people from malaria.

He said one of WHO’s priorities in Uganda is to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Health to effectively prevent and control malaria.

He said in collaboration with the Roll Back Malaria Initiative, WHO has developed the Comprehensive Malaria Monitoring and Evaluation Plan to combat the disease.

Mr Keith McKenzie, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative, said to complement the laudable efforts made to date in increasing the distribution and coverage of mosquito nets, there need for a rapid, nation-wide acceleration in their use in order to meet the National Malaria Control Strategy target of 85 percent of households owning at least one net by the year 2010.

“Distributing mosquito nets does not prevent malaria; using them does,” said Mr. McKenzie. The United Nations also urged Ugandans to manage especially their homesteads, well, by clearing bushes and stagnant water, which act as hiding and breeding places for mosquitoes respectively.
“Counting malaria out of Uganda will need concerted efforts of all concerned, not only medical personnel,” said the Country Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization, Hebtom Asmelash.

Endemic in 95 percent of Uganda, malaria causes close to 15 percent of all in-patient deaths countrywide. Children under five – who comprise 22 percent of the national population, are the most vulnerable to the disease.

On average, children in Uganda experience five episodes of malaria per year. In addition, the disease is a significant contributor to miscarriages and low-birth weight.

Malaria remains the number one killer disease accounting for 320 deaths every day. The theme of this year’s World Malaria Day is “Counting Malaria Out”. It is intended to intensify a campaign that engages partners in a comprehensive effort to count and quantify the progress and impact of interventions in the fight against malaria.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

NEWS: Health Minister, MPs clash at Malaria Day Celebrations

Health Minister, MPs clash at Malaria Day Celebrations

Sunady, APril 26, 2009 from MONITOR ONLINE

The Malaria Day Celebrations held in Apopong sub-County last Saturday almost turned chaotic, when the Health Minister, Dr Steven Mallinga and two MPs from Teso hauled accusations at each other over malaria and other government programmes.The argument was triggered off by statements made by Pallisa County [MP, Mr Louis Opange and Bukedea Country MP, Mr Oduman Okello Charles that misallocation of funds was partly responsible for escalating malaria cases in the country.The speeches of the two MPs who confessed that they had fluked the Malaria Day Celebrations concentrated on the findings in the 2006/07 Auditor General’s report which indicated that some officials in the Ministry of health used Shs410 million meant for drugs to travel abroad.In response, the visibly charged minister, attacked the two MPs describing them as a nuisance and sleeping Members of Parliament who were lousily politicizing government programmes.“These are sleeping MPs who have never raised any issues in Parliament. I have never heard OPange talking in Parliament. He is ever quiet but now he wants to give you an impression that he can speak.What is he talking about,” said Dr Mallinga who spoke in a mixture of English and the local dialect Ateso, for the message to sink in the populace. The Minister also accused the MPs and district councilors of hijacking government programmes like meant to improve the welfare of the locals such as NUSAF and NAADS among others.“The locals write their proposals but they are taken over by some MPs and councilors,” he said.The Minister Particularly pinned Mr Opange saying he had used his influence to entrust his wife with the distribution of cows which the government sent the area to improve the livelihood of the locals.However, Mr Opanga denied the allegations saying his wife lives with him in Kampala and that she has never engaged herself in the distribution of the cows in question.Dr Mallinga said the leaders in Teso should cooperate and promote development in the area other than criticizing the government. After minutes of squabbling, the Minister was then reminded to talk about malaria which was the theme of day. In response, Dr Mallinga said malaria remains a major killer and cause of poverty in Uganda and other endemic countries.He said studies have shown that Africa and Uganda inclusive lags behind development by 32 years because of malaria.“We are spending lots of money buying drugs which would have helped us in other sectors because malaria,” Dr Mallinga said.He stressed the need for a collaborative effort in the struggle against malaria.The World Health Organisation representative in Uganda, Dr Joaquim Saweka called for the scaling up of interventions that have been put in place to contain the spread of malaria such as use of insecticide treated nets.

NEWS: Religious leaders targeted to end malaria deaths

Religious leaders targeted to end malaria deaths

Sunday, April 26, 2009 from MONITOR ONLINE

Withthe fight against malaria still elusive in several countries including Uganda, religious leaders have now become a new target to try and combat the disease.The UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for Malaria, Mr Ray Chambers on April 24 hosted a cross section of religious leaders from around the world in Washington DC, where the new campaign dubbed “One World Against Malaria” was launched.The campaign will engage faith-based institutions, working in partnership with governments and the private sector to cover every African with a bed net by 2010.Mr Chambers said that although malaria cases in Africa are declining largely because of increased access to insecticide treated nets, more effort needed to be put in place to combat the disease.In his annual report to UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki-Moon, Mr Chambers said more than 40 per cent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa now has access to long lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets compared to less than 10 percent in 2005. "At this moment, we can point to definite indicators of progress,'' the report reads in part. Uganda is one of the countries in Africa currently benefiting from a $3b UN Global Action Plan to reduce deaths from malaria to near zero by 2015. Malaria kills close to 300 people daily in Uganda, mostly children less than five years of age and pregnant women. According to the Ministry of Health, at least 25 per cent of Ugandan households spend their income treating malaria.Mr Ki-Moon has set December 31 2010 as the deadline to provide all malaria endemic countries essential interventions to control the disease including long lasting insecticide treated nets, indoor residual spraying and providing anti-malarial drugs like artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) – and intermittent preventive treatment among pregnant women. In the last three years, according to the report, more than 140 million mosquito nets have been distributed to nearly 300 million people in malaria endemic countries in Africa. "With over 240 million mosquito nets already financed for delivery between now and December 2010, attention has focused on reinforcing management structures within these countries,'' Chambers added. He however stressed that while malaria reduction objectives are within sight, a failure to increase momentum further may result in falling short of the targets that have been set. "The possibility of realising this scenario by 2015 arises not from aspiration, but from accounts of rapid intervention-induced declines in malaria deaths in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe and other countries. The Tanzanian island of Zanzibar already has reduced deaths to near zero. In Zambia, malaria parasite prevalence in children has lowered by 50 per cent. These examples demonstrate rather powerfully the promise of our mission,'' he said in his report.

Friday, April 24, 2009

NEWS: Fight against neglected diseases starts in Teso

Fight against neglected diseases starts in Teso

Friday April 24, 2009 from MONITOR ONLINE

A campaign against neglected diseases, such as filariasis that causes elephantiasis and hydro-cell among men, has started in Katine Sub-county, Soroti District. The African Medical and Research Foundation [Amref] in conjunction with the Ministry of Health are jointly conducting the campaign.The Amref Health Programme Officer, Mr Joseph Otim, said in an interview on Wednesday that research has shown that the districts of Katakwi, Amuria and Soroti have areas harbouring mosquitoes that spread the disease. He said Katine is one of the affected areas.Filariasis is a parasitic disease caused by microscopic worms that live in the lymph system, causing swelling and the thickening of the skin. For men, this could also mean the swelling of the scrotum. It has dramatic effect that appears usually in 15 years and above, from the date a mosquito bites. Mr Otim said the campaign forms part of Uganda’s national Child Days Plus programme aimed at boosting children’s immunity against diseases, de-worming children between the ages of one and 14 and providing Vitamin A supplements.Mr Otim said, “We are immunising children of all ages and pregnant women against TB, polio, tetanus, measles. ” He added, “We shall also be distributing tablets to the community against filariasis disease that causes elephantiasis and hydro-cell which are common in the districts of Soroti, Amuria, and Katakwi.” The exercise in Katine involves early infant diagnosis of disease among children from six weeks to 18 months, eye screening, treating neglected tropical diseases (such as filariasis, bilharzia and river blindness), and the promotion of key healthcare family practices like breast feeding, hygiene and sanitation.Mr Otim said the community members with eye defects would also get free treatment. The campaign that commenced on April 16, will last for one month with apparently 7,032 students getting de-wormed against intestinal worms. Mr Otim says they will traverse all the 66 villages in Katine and treat about 29,000 people free of charge from the above ailments during the campaign.

NEWS: Land wars threaten 30 districts


Land wars threaten 30 districts


Friday, 24th April, 2009 From NEW VISION

LAND conflicts will escalate in at least 30 districts in Uganda unless urgent measures are taken to resolve them, experts have warned. A ‘time bomb in waiting’ is how the NGO Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE) calls the looming land crisis as a result of population pressure and lack of proper land policies. The conflicts include border disputes with neighbouring countries, inter-district border disputes, wrangles between landlords and tenants, and tenants resisting acquisition of land by investors. The disputes over international boundaries include Migingo island in Lake Victoria pitting Uganda against Kenya, a 9 km stretch in Yumbe between Uganda and Sudan, the Katuna border area with Rwanda and the Mutukula border area with Tanzania. Disagreements with the Democratic Republic of Congo involve Rukwanzi Island in Lake Albert, Semliki, Medigo area in Pakwach and Vurra border area in Arua. The disputes over Migingo Island and Rukwanzi Island have already led to violence. In August 2007, Congolese soldiers killed a Ugandan-based British oil worker accusing him of illegally crossing the border. And last week Kenyan slum dwellers uprooted the railway line to Uganda protesting what they called continued Ugandan occupation of Migingo Island. Disputes over district borders exist between Moroto and Katakwi, Sironko and Kapchorwa, Bundibujo and Kabarole, Moroto and Lira, Tororo and Butaleja, Butaleja and Budaka and over Namatala swamp between Mbale and Budaka districts. In Buganda region, conflicts are expected to worsen between landlords and tenants, the latter increasingly facing eviction as land becomes scarce and its value goes up. Violent evictions have pervaded the area in recent years. Land’s ministry spokesperson Dennis Obbo argues that the proposed land amendment bill will solve many of the conflicts in Buganda as it seeks to give more protection to the tenants. However, the bill has been fiercely resisted, particularly by interest groups, and it has been shelved for now. In Gulu district, returnees from internally displaced people’s camps are locked in land disputes over boundaries as original land marks have disappeared and the elders who knew them have died. In parts of Ankole and Bunyoro, royals who hold large chunks of land are embroiled in conflicts with people who have occupied their land for decades. In Kasese, three indigenous tribes are fighting over a small portion of land that was not taken over by the Government for game parks or forest reserves. “The people of Kasese have been squeezed into ‘a corridor for survival’ as the rest of the land mass is inaccessible because it is gazetted as Government protected land,” says one of the research reports by ACODE. According to the researchers, the Government holds 65% of the land in Kasese while the district’s three tribes of Bakhonzo, Basongora and Banyabindi are left to share the remaining 35%. As a result of land scarcity, the Basongora cattle keepers encroached on Queen Elizabeth National Park upon their return from the Democratic Republic of Congo where they had been chased out. Violent clashes broke out with the Uganda Wildlife Authority which tried to evict them back into the survival corridor. “To say the least, Kasese is sitting on a time bomb, which could explode anytime,” says the report. In the Eastern part of the country, the Karimojong of Moroto accuse the Teso people of Katakwi of having altered the border line in their favour in the 1960s, when Curthbeth Obwongor from Teso was minister of local government. In 1966, the altering of the border caused heated disagreements in the area. The Karimojong petitioned then President Milton Obote, who subsequently cancelled the alteration and dismissed Obwongor from parliament. The dispute, however, flared up again in 2004 when then LC5 of Moroto, Terence Achia, locked horns with his Katakwi counterpart, Steven Okure Ilemukorit, over parts of Napak, Kodike and Alekilek which the latter claimed belonged to Katakwi. “These recent claims and counter-claims by politicians are threatening to inflame the conflict and could result into generalized violence,” the report says. The situation in Kibale, which has seen bloody disputes in recent past, is far more complex than any other region and dates back to colonial days. The colonial government gave part of the Kibale land to chiefs in Buganda Kingdom. When the so-called lost counties were given back to Bunyoro kingdom after independence, the Baganda landlords fled with the land titles. As a result, the occupants on about 70% of Mailo land in the area have no security of ownership. In addition, the Government has over the decades resettled different groups of people in the area. Immigrants now comprise 50% of the district’s population, up from 10% five decades ago. A rift between the indigenous Banyoro and the immigrants has become apparent in 1990s and has continued to grow. Bulisa district is another trouble spot where oil prospects are just the latest catalyst to a looming land war. According to the area MP, Birahwa Mukutale, the British colonial government took 80% of the land in Bulisa and Bugungu to gazzet it as Murchison Falls National Park and Budongo Forest reserve. The remaining 20% was then zoned into grazing land near the lake and land for cultivation near the park. This land has been communally owned and used for over 60 years. “Unfortunately, in 2004, Bulisa was invaded by nomadic herdsmen who do not respect the zoning. As a result, there are daily conflicts between cultivators and herdsmen,” says Mukutale. In addition, the herdsmen claim they individually hold land titles for about 40 sq miles in Bulisa. But the indigenous residents refute these claims, arguing that all this land is communally owned. What should be done? Officials in the lands ministry agree with the ACODE researchers. “The hot spots are many,” says Dennis Obbo, the ministry’s publicist. “We have found that wherever there is productive use of land along an administrative border, there is conflict.” Mapping the land conflict areas and noting the unique drivers of conflict in each area should be the first step to avert war, according to Onesmus Mugyenyi, the executive director of ACODE. “We carried out this research because we wanted to show the Government that conflict mapping should be adopted as a strategy for resolving disputes. It should be done on a regular basis so as to help plan interventions.” “We are hoping that the land policy will sort out many of the problems,” says Obbo. The government is also in the process of buying land from absentee landlords to help insecure tenants acquire land titles. “The government has so far bought over 76 hectares of land with money from the Land Fund.” The Bulisa MP believes that systematic demarcation of land would also be part of the answer. The Government is currently carrying out pilot projects in the districts of Iganga, Ntungamo, Kibale and Mabale. The World Bank is set to fund the project in another 28 parishes countrywide. In this exercise, all land will be surveyed and land owners will be able to secure their tenure by registration and acquisition of land titles. The high population growth rate, which goes hand in hand with climate change, is another area that needs to addressed, according to the Africa Peer Review. Estimated at 3.2% a year, Uganda’s population growth rate is third highest in the world. The average Ugandan woman gives birth to seven children in her lifetime. By 2050, Uganda’s population is expected to reach 120 million, three-fold the current population. “This is a serious challenge that affects the growth levels in Uganda”, says the 2009 Peer Review report. “It is strongly recommended that Uganda considers adopting and implementing a national population policy as a key element in its poverty reduction strategy.” As most of the land conflicts are in highly populated areas, a population policy might also be a key element in averting an escalation of land wars in Uganda

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

NEWS: Jinja runs out of Malaria, TB drugs

Jinja runs out of Malaria, TB drugs

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 from MONITOR ONLINE

Hundreds of lives are at risk after hospitals in Jinja ran out of Coartem, the recommended anti-malaria drug, the District Director of Health Services, Sarah Byakika, has said.

Drugs meant to treat tuberculosis have also run out, causing a potentially-fatal disruption to more than 1,200 patients on the district’s TB drug programme.

Interruption of TB medication increases the chance of resistance to the drugs, raising concerns of a future epidemic of virtually untreatable TB. “For two weeks hospitals in Jinja have not had Coartem,” Ms Byakika said.

“We pick our drugs from Buluba Mission Hospital but they are also yet to receive any and that has created a problem for us. In some units it’s out of stock completely. We are now falling back on quinine or other drugs which were phased out due to patients’ resistance problems,” she added.

Changing treatment regimes for patients could make both malaria and tuberculosis drug-resistant and lead to deaths, officials have warned.Ms Byakika said the district had resorted to asking for drugs from local health service NGOs, including The Aids Support Organisation (Taso) “because we cannot stop treatment for the patients already undergoing medication”.

Other patients, she said, have been referred to health centres outside the district for the drugs.The population in seven districts in the region depend on Jinja Hospital for advanced medical attention so the drug shortage is likely to affect thousands more people. National Medical Stores publicist Hamis Kaheru yesterday acknowledged shortages of drugs..

“Recently, there was a shortage of malaria drugs because government had been let down by Global Fund. However, we had issued hospitals drugs to last them for two months and unfortunately we expect rains to trigger off Malaria leading to low stocks. Hospitals ought to act fast amd make requisitions,” he said.

About two weeks ago, Gulu District also faced the TB, anti-retroviral (ARVs) and Malaria drugs shortage. However, the country last week received the first consignment of TB drugs worth Shs33m from Global Fund.

NEWS: Red Cross sets Shs800 million for polio immunization

Red Cross sets Shs800 million for polio immunization

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 from MONITOR ONLINE

Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) has injected Shs800m in an immunization campaign against Polio and measles. The exercise, which will take place from April 25 to 27 and May 23-26 2009, is part of the supplementary national immunization days for polio set by the ministry of health.URCS is undertaking the new drive with the Ministry of Health. It will cover Kampala, Apac, Amolatar, Dokolo, Lira and Oyam. Others are Abim, Kaabomg, Kotido, Moroto and Nakapiripirit. Addressing journalists during the launch of the campaign in Kampala on Monday (April 20), the chairman of the Central Governing Board of URCS Mr Tom Buruku said the campaign aims at increasing social mobilization and access to health services to reduce mortality and morbidity from immunisatiobale diseases in the most affected communities,’’ he said.According to Mr Buruku, the districts selected to implement the campaign are among the 29 high risk districts identified by the ministry of health. “These districts have been selected based on their proximity to Amuru district which had a recent reported case of wild polio,’’ Mr Buruku said.He said over 1.2 million children are targeted to be immunized at the end of the campaign.Wild Polio outbreak was first reported in Amuru district in northern Uganda in February 2009 and to date, more than six cases have been confirmed.“Repeated immunization will ensure that children get full protection and stop the spread of Polio. Immunization will be conducted at different health centres throughout the country free of charge,’’ Mr Buruku explained.URCS General Secretary Mr Richard Nataka said over 8000 Red Cross trained volunteers have been deployed in the districts to implement the polio and measles campaign.“As an auxiliary body to government, URCS has been an implementing partner for the last two decades, contributing to some of the successes of the immunization programmes in this country,’’ Mr Nakata said.

Monday, April 20, 2009

NEWS: East Africa beats global financial crisis

East Africa beats global financial crisis

Sunday, 19th April, 2009 from NEW VISION ONLINE:

EAST Africa will come safely through the global financial crisis to record at least five percent growth this year, the highest on the continent, the African Development Bank announced on Friday. The bank’s chief economist, Louis Kasekende, singled out Uganda as an example of East African states that were expecting healthy growth through regional trade and agricultural exports, as opposed to other African countries that are more dependent on oil and mineral exports. “East Africa might end up with the highest growth rate in Africa,” he told reporters during a workshop in Nairobi to assess the region’s financial needs during the crisis. “Uganda will record 6%. Kenya, given its diversity in export markets, will grow by between five and 5.5%.” Like the rest of Africa, the region enjoyed good growth for most of this decade on the back of relative political stability and a high appetite for resources by countries like China. Uganda grew by an average of 7.9% over the last half decade while Kenya grew by an average 5.5% in the five years that led up to its post-election violence in 2008. Kasekende said the knock-on effects of the global financial crisis are mainly hurting growth in African economies that lacked a diverse base of economic activities. “Countries that have been heavily dependent on exports of minerals and oil are going through a very difficult period,” he explained. The collapse of commodity prices has forced a number of international mining companies to close, leading to rising unemployment, the Bank predicted at a meeting in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, last month. “The worst case may be in the Democratic Republic of Congo where more than 350,000 jobs are estimated to have been lost in the Katanga Province.” In contrast, nations like Uganda that mainly rely on regional trade and exporting agricultural products, could hold up well in the face of the global downturn, Kasekende said. Comesa (the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) and the East African community trade blocs remain Uganda’s main trading partners. Exports to Comesa countries almost doubled in one year, from $284m in 2006 to $506m in 2007. Particularly trade with the DR Congo and Southern Sudan has risen spectacularly since peace returned to these countries. Exports to Sudan increased more than ten-fold between 2003 and 2007, and to Congo eight-fold. Coffee remained Uganda’s main export product in 2007, followed by fish, tobacco and tea. The chief economist said the East African countries had been pummeled by capital flight that wiped off nearly 40% of the value of regional stock markets last year. Local currencies also weakened sharply against the dollar. “But we have overcome that in most of these countries,” he said. “The second issue that could affect these countries is in terms of reduced inflows of remittances (from kyeyo workers). That is going to affect all the countries.” The Tunis-based African Development Bank last month announced a doubling of its annual lending budget to $11 billion to help countries deal with the global downturn.

Friday, April 17, 2009

NEWS: Uganda’s population explosion a time bomb - new report

Uganda’s population explosion a time bomb - new report
Saturday, April 17, 2009 from MONITOR ONLINE:

Uganda’s rapid population growth is putting significant pressure on the country’s food, water and energy resources, a report has revealed.

According to the State of East Africa 2008 report sanctioned by the Society of International Development (SID), the region’s rich natural resources are to take a severe strain as more ordinary people aspire for prosperity.

The study under the theme Nature Under Pressure, covers Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi – the five countries that form the East African Community bloc. It also warns about the devastating effects of climate change.

According to the report, Ugandans are the East Africans who got to bed with the fullest stomachs, but the availability of food could be behind the country’s astronomical population growth.

An average Ugandan consumes 2,380Kcalories per day, while Burundians consume the least at 1,600Kcalories. Kenyans (2,150), Rwandans (2,070) and Tanzanians (1,960) follow in that order.

The SID report projects that East Africa’s population, which currently stands at 125 million, will meanwhile reach 190 million in 2030.

However, the biggest increase will come from Uganda, because the national population growth rate of 3.2 percent per annum is the highest in the world.

The information officer at the Population Secretariat, Mr Hannington Burunde says Uganda’s population, which currently stands at 31m, will reach a staggering 130 million in 2050.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

NEWS: Highly priced malaria drugs causing more deaths’

‘Highly priced malaria drugs causing more deaths’

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 from MONITOR ONLINE:

The high cost of anti-malarial drugs has made the poor to become more vulnerable to the deadly disease, a senior consultant at Mulago Hospital, Dr Baterana Byarugaba, has said.

Dr Baterana said pharmacies and other suppliers of Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) like coartem should reduce the price of such drugs so as to save lives.

A dose of coartem in private health facilities costs between Shs15,000 and Shs20,000. Chloroquine, which was widely used in the treatment of uncomplicated malaria before it was banned by the World Health Organisation after it became ineffective, was much cheaper compared to ACTs which were introduced as a replacement.

A dose of chloroquine used to cost about Shs200 in private clinics and pharmacies. The accessibility of the drugs saved so many lives but since it become resistant to malaria parasite, those who cannot afford expensive drugs have been left at the mercy of the killer disease.

Currently, the Ministry of Health states that malaria remains the number one cause of ill-health and deaths in the country accounting for about 320 deaths per day. “About 80 per cent of Ugandans buy drugs from pharmacies to treat themselves before going to the hospitals but ACTs continue to be very expensive,” Dr Baterana said.

He revealed this during the launch of a new anti-malarial drug called Arco in Kampala on Thursday. The drug manufactured by Kunming Pharmaceutical Corporation, a Chinese company, targets children from the age of four months to 16 years.

Malaria kills between 70,000 and 110,000 Ugandan children annually. The clinical trials of the new drug were conducted both in China and Mulago.The former manager of the Malaria Control Programme in the Ministry of Health, Dr John Bosco Rwakimari, said availability of effective but affordable drugs would lead to the success of other interventions that the government has put in place to control the spread of malaria such as Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) of mosquitoes.

Dr Rwakimari said in the 1960s, cases of malaria dropped in Busoga, and Kigezi region when the government conducted IRS alongside mass treatment using chloroquine and asprin. Unfortunately, medical experts say, very few people today have access to effective anti-malarials.

Although coartem in government hospitals is given to patients free, the regular stock outs still force those who are stricken by malaria to pay for treatment in private health facilities.Recently, the National Drug Authority arrested several health workers who were engaged in selling coartem which was supposed to be given to patients free of charge.

NEWS: TB patients get expired drug

TB patients get expired drug

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 from MONITOR ONLINE:

A shortage of tuberculosis drugs, which has spanned six months in some hospitals in the country, is forcing doctors to resort to using already expired drugs to treat their patients, a Daily Monitor investigation reveals.

Daily Monitor has learnt that doctors at Gulu Main Referral Hospital are treating their patients using drugs that expired as long ago as February 2006. The drugs have been at the hospital stores more than three years since they expired due to the hospital’s lack of facilities to dispose them off, but the medics are not using them out of desperation.

DANGEROUS: Expired TB drugs at Gulu Hospital. PHOTO BY PAUL AMORU
Investigations by this paper reveal that both in-patients and out-patients at the hospital have been receiving the expired drugs for nearly three months now. Efforts by Daily Monitor to establish the total number of TB patients now ‘surviving’ on this toxic medication were not fruitful.

But well-placed sources at the hospital, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, disclosed that the expired drugs are mainly given to patients who developed MDR TB. Our source identified the expired medication as Streptomycin Sterile Injection.. “Drugs like Streptomycin Sterile, Ethambutol and Isoniazed tablets expired in January but patients who developed resistance are still relying on expired streptomycin injection,” the source explained.

“Following an expiration date is important, no matter what is in question. The facts are that the item (drug) in question has been found that under normal conditions it only remains effective for a set amount of time. After this time, the drug becomes ineffective, meaning it is pointless to even take it, and at times it can even become harmful,” our source, who is a practicing doctor, explained.

There is a high risk of TB transmission, which is actually heightened when a patient’s treatment regime is interrupted by a shortage or use of expired drugs as in the Gulu case. Since most of these patients had already developed multi-drug resistance (MDR) TB, relying on expired drugs at such a critical stage of their treatment can only lessen their chances of ever getting well.

Gulu Referral Medical Superintendent, Dr Agel Yoventino Akii, said while some expired drugs had in the past been used to treat people, the practice had now been phased out.“Sometime back the expiry date of these (TB) drugs was short and the hospital had to use it. But now we (Gulu hospital) have already received new stock and we are still considering whether to include new (TB) cases to receive drugs,” Dr Akii said without indicating when the new stock arrived in the district.

However, our sources insisted that no new drugs had been delivered to the hospital store and it is the reason the expired medication was secretly being administered to patients.

The Hospital In-Charge of Tuberculosis ward, Sr. Louise Anger, said the last consignment of drugs from the Directorate of Health Services for the month of January had their expiry dates for February and they are out of stock. “We collected 576 packets of TB drugs from the director’s office for January and we finished them but what we have are okay,” Sr. Anger said without indicating that they had received new stock after January.

News of a stock-out of TB drugs in the country broke at the time when the world was preparing to celebrate and commemorate the lives of those who have been affected by TB across the globe. Dr Sam Zaramba, the director general of health services, last month confirmed the shortage but denied reports that patients were being given expired drugs at any government hospital in the country.

The district Tuberculosis and Leprosy Focal Point Person, Mr John Opwonya, while downplaying the issue of expired medication, said there were no TB drugs in the store.Gulu district health officer Dr Paul Onek said, “The supply of ARV drugs is fair but for TB is poor. The last consignment we received was in January which lasted only for a month and now we are borrowing from sources with support from MSF Spain.”

Media reports show that since October 2008, Mulago Hospital has been experiencing shortages of anti-TB drugs. Mr Vincent Uma, a former police officer who is on his six month treatment in TB ward, explained that there was constant treatment although so difficult to determine if injections he received were expired.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

NEWS: Health Ministry to carry out diabetes survey

Health Ministry to carry out diabetes survey

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 from MONITOR ONLINE

The Ministry of Health yesterday launched the international guidelines for the management of diabetes, with a warning that incidence of the disease and other non-communicable diseases “has sharply risen in Uganda”.

“We have also observed that the disease is afflicting more of our young population than before,” a statement from the Ministry of Health said. “Complications of diabetes are reported with increasing frequency at our rural health facilities.”

Although the ministry claims the disease is on the rise, Dr James Sekajugo, the head of non communicable Disease Unit in the Ministry of Health, told a press briefing in Kampala yesterday that there are no accurate figures on the prevalence of diabetes in the country, with bureaucrats relying on raw data from hospitals and other health units, as well as from traditional healers.

“It’s because of this that the first ever community-based Ugandan Non Communicable Disease Risk Factor Survey is going to be carried out,” Dr Sekajugo said adding that, “The data and information collected during this survey will enable the ministry to formulate an evidence-based national policy on diabetes.”

Diabetes is a disease associated with major complications like heart diseases, blindness and impotence. At the same function, State Minister for Health Richard Nduhuura said the disease was defying stereotypes.

“Contrary to the popular belief, it is not a disease of the rich; everyone, man or woman, rich or poor, young or old can be affected,” Mr Nduhuura noted.The Ministry of Health has established a unit to plan and coordinate all the non-communicable disease prevention and control efforts. Mr Nduhuura said the ministry intends to support this unit with the appropriate personnel and facilities.

NEWS: Govt doctors protest poor pay

Govt doctors protest poor pay

Monday, 6th April, 2009 from NEW VISION

Senior medical doctors have petitioned the minister over the Government’s failure to increase salaries and allowances for doctors working in the public health service. The petition, signed by 66 doctors, was yesterday handed to health minister Dr. Stephen Mallinga at the ministry headquarters. Dr. Tom Mwambu, the president of Uganda Medical Association, accompanied by seven doctors, presented the petition. The team comprised Dr. Margaret Mungherera (mobilisation), Dr. Frederick Mutyaba (welfare), Dr. Daniel Zaake (deputy vice-president) and Dr. Edward Ddumba, the executive director of Mulago Hospital. “The new districts have been most affected with up to 90% not being successful in attracting doctors to take up medical officer posts” the petition read. “It is estimated that more than 60% of doctors in Uganda leave the country to work elsewhere within five years of graduating,” the petition added. Mwambu said their team had agreed to meet the minister next week to discuss ways of improving their remuneration, recruitment and retention of health workers. Mwambu said many doctors had been absorbed by the neighbouring countries especially Rwanda where they are paid better. He said doctors in the public service were stressed by a heavy workload. “One doctor undertakes work that should be done by six doctors,” Mwambu added. He said they would present a similar petition to Parliament Mungherera said they would not go on strike although there was a go- slow strike as more doctors leave for greener pastures.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

NEWS: HIV-resistant Ugandans found

HIV-resistant Ugandans found

Friday, 3rd April, 2009 from NEW VISION

A medical worker carrying out tests at the Virus Research Institute in Entebbe on April 1

A SMALL fraction of Ugandans have been able to naturally knock off HIV from their body, a development that could lead to an HIV vaccine, scientists have said. Dr. Pontiano Kaleebu, an immunologist heading the Basic Sciences Programme of the MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit on AIDS at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), told Saturday Vision that an ongoing study and a previous one at the institute had unearthed signs that some Ugandans may be resistant to HIV. They have special white blood cells that can only be produced when the virus attacks the body. However, even with the most sophisticated tests, HIV could not be found in these individuals, implying that the virus had tried to infect them but the immune system kicked it out. “We are seeing some immune responses but it is still too early to see if there is a lot of meaning to these responses,” said Kaleebu. “Such people are of interest to many researchers worldwide.” At the AIDS Information Centre in Kampala, the UVRI scientists are studying 70 discordant couples to see if some of them are indeed resistant to HIV. These are couples that have had unprotected sex for more than a year, one partner has had HIV for long while the other has not become infected. “We have set up a clinic in Kampala where doctors and counsellors do a lot of counselling and give them condoms to reduce risky sexual behaviour,” Kaleebu said. Despite early signs of resistance to HIV, Kaleebu said meaningful results can only be released at the end of the study. The five-year research, expected to be completed in 2010, is sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health through the British Medical Research Council (MRC). It is part of a multi-country study coordinated by the US-based Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI) and involving Oxford University of UK. Prof. Heiner Grosskurth, the Director of the MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, said: “A lack of ability to becoming HIV infected is extremely rare, but there is evidence meanwhile that people who have this characteristic exist worldwide, although in very small numbers.” Although they are so few, he said, studying them could generate new knowledge that would enable scientists to develop a vaccine. “Such work is going on with a lot of speed and effort in many countries, but there is no breakthrough yet! I think it will still take years until we have good vaccine candidates.” Earlier in 2002, Prof. Andrew Mc Michael of the University of Oxford and the late Dr. Anthony Kebba of UVRI announced that they had identified some eight Ugandans in Kampala and Entebbe, who were exposed to HIV but remained uninfected. One fifth of the discordant couples they studied showed some signs of resistance to HIV, but this required further confirmation. Mc Michael is involved with Kaleebu in the new study. Similar studies are going on in Kenya and the Gambia. Kaleebu cautioned that nearly all people are vulnerable to HIV and Ugandans should not relax simply because a few individuals seem to be resistant to the virus. “It has to be clear that this apparent resistance is not a common thing. If you are HIV negative and your partner is HIV positive we cannot say you are resistant and you cannot become infected. If you continue to have unprotected sex you might become infected in the long run,” said Kaleebu. Indeed, in the late 1990s some people in Rakai were reported to have become infected with HIV after being discordant for many years. On discovering that they were discordant, scientists had advised them to begin using condoms. Later, some of those who declined to use condoms became infected.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

NEWS: ‘Hospitals cause drug shortage’

‘Hospitals cause drug shortage’

Wednesday, 1st April, 2009 from NEW VISION

Hospitals and health centres do not follow procurement rules, causing a delay in the delivery of drugs, officials from National Medical Stores (NMS) have said. They said the shortage was also being caused by health officials, who diverted funds meant to procure drugs for health centres. “Health centre administrators complain of lack of money to procure drugs, but 70% of Government funds for procurement of primary health care drugs, is diverted to unauthorised expenditures,” the medical stores general manager, Moses Kamabare, said. He was speaking to MPs on the social services committee who yesterday made an unexpected visit to the National Medical Stores to find out if there was a shortage of drugs and whether drugs had expired in the stores. Kamabare said the stores had enough drugs to cover all the hospitals in the country. He disclosed that Mulago Hospital did not buy most of its drugs from the medical stores. “The Government allocated sh10b to Mulago in the 2006/7 financial year but when we checked our records, they did not procure any drugs from here,” Kamabare said. He clarified that district officials and the health centres did not follow the right procurement procedures. “Hospitals sometimes neglect the procedures. We send the drug requisition forms at least two months before they make orders but they fail to give the details of the drugs an sometimes the amount of money is not equal to the quantity of the drugs that are requisitioned for,” Kamabare explained The committee chairperson, Rosemary Sseninde (NRM), said most referral hospitals and health centres had accused the medical stores of failure to deliver drugs. She said the committee would compile a report to be tabled in Parliament for debate.