Childhood Disease in Uganda
Malaria is a life-threatening parasitic
disease transmitted by mosquitoes. It is a preventable,
treatable disease that’s not being prevented or treated
effectively in Mbarara, Uganda, due to lack of money, lack
of facilities and infrastructure, and lack of training.
Facts about malaria in Uganda
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- Malaria is Africa's leading cause of death for children
under five years old.
- Malaria is endemic in 95% of Uganda. Nearly half
of hospital in-patient deaths among children under five
are attributed to clinical malaria.
- Malaria accounts for 70,000-110,000 child deaths
annually in Uganda.
- Malaria accounts for 40% of Ugandan public health
expenditure, 30-50% of inpatient admissions, and up
to 50% of outpatient visits in areas with high malaria
transmission.
- With acute disease a child may die within 24 hours.
- In industry and agriculture, malaria accounts for
more than 50% of all man hours lost. This affects production
and revenue for the industry, families and the nation.
Malaria is therefore a leading cause not only of ill
health and death in Uganda but also of poverty.
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- The number of clinical malaria diagnoses reported
by the public health services has been increasing in
recent years, particularly for children under five.
- Uganda’s annual per capita income is $240.
This leaves little money to build hospitals or pay for
anti-malarial preventive measures.
- Malaria is eminently treatable. Children can
be saved if immediate hospitalization and treatment
is available for one week. The cost of treatment,
e.g. Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT),
is $0.45 per child times an average of 5.5 treatments
per year = $2.48 per year. The cost to purchase, deliver
and train families to use highly effective insecticide-treated
mosquito netting is only $10.00 per net.
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Respiratory infection is the second-highest cause of
death in children under 5 in Uganda. Twenty-one
percent of all under-5 deaths in Uganda are due to
respiratory infection. According to the Uganda Bureau of
Statistics, early diagnosis and treatment with
antibiotics can prevent a large proportion of deaths
caused by respiratory infection.
After malaria and respiratory infection, dysentery is
the most prevalent cause of death in children under 5 in
Uganda. Seventeen percent of all under-5 deaths in
Uganda are due to dehydration brought on by dysentery,
even though dysentery can be easily treated with oral
rehydration therapy. In the southwest region of
Uganda, where Mbarara is located, only half of children
with dysentery are currently treated by health
providers. Holy Innocents Children’s Hospital will
provide additional capacity to treat these children.
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