Uganda: Child Mothers On the Rise

This story was written by Vivian Agaba, in the New Vision Newspaper of 28 June 2013

Namubiru, 17, in Primary five always spent holidays in Maya village in Masaka district at her elder sister’s place. It is in this village that she met a 21-year-old man in senior two and the duo became close friends.She stayed home to look after her sister’s baby and this is where her new friend, Mukasa, found her .They were friends for only one month and took their relationship to another step and became boyfriend and girlfriend.

Mukasa would visit her every time her sister left for work and the duo would have lengthy conversations in which he would promise her heaven on earth. After making those promises, Namubiru was convinced that Mukasa loved her and

Uganda’s MPs pledge to push government to fund the UNAP

By Esther Nasikye

Uganda’s Prime Minister, Amama Mbabazi speaking during the Nutrition for Growth Summit in London

Uganda’s Prime Minister, Hon. Amama Mbabazi, who represented President Museveni at the G8 Summit in London on June 8th made a commitment on behalf of the Uganda Government to implement the Uganda Nutrition Action Plan (UNAP). The UNAP has a target to reduce; stunting in children below five years to 27%, underweight in children below five years to less than 10% and to increase exclusive breast feeding in children up to six months of age to 75% by 2016.

Uganda will ensure a functional multi-sectoral coordination mechanism to promote nutrition right from the central to local government level and will also put in place an integrated nutrition surveillance system that takes stock of nutrition status at community, district and national level,” Mbabazi said.

Mbabazi also noted that in-spite of the successes registered in the fight against malnutrition, the country still has unacceptably high levels of under nutrition with 33% of children under five years stunted, 14% underweight and 5% wasted or severely malnourished.
The London summit was a climax to a series of activities held in Uganda to mark the ‘Food For All’ campaign Global Week of Action. One of the activities organised by World Vision Uganda in partnership with Uganda Civil Society Coalition on Scaling Up Nutrition (UCCO-SUN) on 6th June 2013 was a policy dialogue attended by eleven Members of Parliament (MP), representatives from the civil society and the media. The forum was used to highlight challenges of stunting and malnutrition in Uganda.

World health leaders act to save 6 million lives

On 23rd May, 2013, representatives from countries across the world gathered at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland to pass the resolution on implementing the recommendations from the UN Commission on life-saving commodities for women and children

These recommendations represent an important step forward in work to tackle maternal, newborn and child deaths and focus on providing support and funding to 13 often neglected areas of the health sector. Combined progress in these areas can save the lives of 6 million women and children in the next five years.

Ahead of the World Health Assembly, and this life-saving resolution, World Vision offices lobbied the delegations attending in more than 23 countries. This ensured delegations were able to plan their positions on the resolution before they arrived in Geneva – and some, like Uganda and Ethiopia, pledged their support in advance. During this lobbying we also saw people in 36 countries mobilising for child survival for Survive 5 Day on 5th May.

At the assembly itself, a World Vision delegation lobbied members, held side-events, engaged key stakeholders and briefed the Assembly in order to generate maximum support for the resolution.

With the passing of this resolution the next stage will focus on implementing it at the national level with colleagues ready to apply the recommendations in their countries. We will also be seeking to coordinate it with work around the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea and the upcoming Global Newborn Action Plan.

Thank you to all involved in this world-changing process, your support has helped shift the global agenda and will help save the lives of 6 million people in the coming years.

Treat pregnant mothers with love, nurses told

Midwives and nurses have been cautioned to handle pregnant mothers with great care in order to reduce the maternal and child mortality rates in the country. Prisca Ssezi Mbaguta, the public service state minister, made the warning on 6th May 2013, while presiding over the International Midwives and Nurses Day at Kanungu district headquarters.

Mbaguta said midwives and nurses play a noble role in the life of pregnant mothers, noting that they need to show love when dealing with mothers. “Some nurses talk harshly to pregnant mothers and as a result more women prefer to deliver at their homes or go to traditional birth attendants where they get complications, which sometimes lead to death. This must be stopped,” Mbaguta said.

Uganda introduces pneumococcal vaccine to curb infant and child deaths

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni  on 27 April 2013 formally launched the introduction of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) into the country’s routine immunization schedule to avert infant and child deaths due to pneumococcal disease.

Globally, health problems due to pneumococcal disease claim the lives of more than 1.8 million children under the age of five each year. In Uganda, these killer diseases account for the death of more than 24,000 children every year.

“Health is wealth and one of the surest ways to be healthy and to stay in good health is by getting vaccinated”, the President said at the launch ceremony, held at a rural primary school in Iganga district, eastern Uganda.

Urging Ugandans to take immunization seriously, the President said: “Immunization is not a joke, it is not playing around”. He also told the people to consider the eventuality of a law being introduced that would make it an offence for parents not to vaccinate their children.

The launch, which marked the first step in the rollout of the pneumococcal vaccine into Uganda’s routine immunization schedule,  aims to vaccinate initially all Ugandan children younger than one year old, and all Ugandan infants thereafter. The vaccine will be available for free at all health facilities.