Blog: Dispatches from Uganda: Approaching World Malaria Day

Disclaimer: The views expressed on this website are entirely my own and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.

April 25th is World Malaria Day. According to the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (2011) Malaria is the leading cause of death in Uganda and is the biggest medical concern for children under the age of 5. Malaria attacks the red blood cells and causes high fevers and severe anemia. Since the mosquito that carries Malarial disease is found at night, insecticide-treated mosquito nets have been found to greatly reduce the incidence of Malaria. Currently 60% of Ugandans have at least 1 treated mosquito net compared to 16% in 2006 (UDHS), and 43% of children under the age of 5 slept under a treated mosquito net compared to 33% in 2006; a dramatic improvement. The goal is for each person to sleep under a treated mosquito net, use malaria preventive activities such as indoor residual spraying, bug spray, long-sleeves, and reduce malaria in pregnant women which leads to low birth weight, spontaneous abortion, or maternal/child mortality. Hence the words, “Stomping Out Malaria”.

I also discovered some sad statistics from our last hospital about HIV the other day…Over the last 4 months 319 children under the age of 15 were tested positive in our local hospital alone. 118 of them are under the age of 5. Thankfully they are all in treatment right now.

We have started the program of students teaching in the local schools. I have been working with a physician from the UK, a volunteer for Think Humanity. We have 2 one hour training sessions with the nursing students and then they present to students in the schools.  We started with HIV/AIDS and the nursing students learned a lot about specifics like symptoms, transmission from mother to child, and viral load. They also asked some good critical thinking questions like why do some people exposed get it when others don’t? The one thing that none of them realized was that it started in Africa. We gave a pre-test survey to the girls in the hostel also. Here are some of the results of the 29 participants:

• 16 participants correctly explained what HIV is
• 6 participants correctly explained what AIDS is
• 23 participants were able to state at least 1 of the 4 ways you can get HIV
• 13 students had no knowledge of condoms

Some of the myths they have heard and want to know if they are true:

• Causes include; mosquitos, sharing a bed with someone infected, kissing, coughing, sharing food, sharing clothes, hugging someone.
• HIV came from dogs.
• Circumcision prevents HIV
• Using soda to wash your privates prevents HIV
• A symptom of HIV is pimples
• If you have HIV you should only eat vitamins and fats

The students did an awesome job teaching. We are so excited to start this program and hope that we can maintain it for the rest of my time here. We are working on Family planning for the next presentation. This is really important because it is not taught in the schools which is pretty sad since first pregnancies here are common between ages 12 and 14 and the average number of children per mother is 6.  We will also present on Malaria and Handwashing/sanitation in the months to come.

It is probably difficult for you to understand unless you have lived in another culture for a while, but I have listed some of the daily cultural challenges.

• Everyone speaking in local language even when you are with them.
• Having to rephrase your statements and repeat yourself because they don’t understand
• Trying to find things to talk about with Ugandan friends
• Constant noise and sound (and I do mean constant)
• Lack of comfort food or food varieties
• Needing to greet everyone you pass on the street
• Being the constant source of attention and entertainment
• Lack of privacy or personal space
• People you are talking to turning away to greet someone or answer the phone and not returning to your conversation (even if you think it is important)
• Mundaneness of daily routine like handwashing laundry every 2-3 days, sweeping the dusty floor every day, cooking dinner with no power, or picking up an egg for breakfast and feathers are still attached-LOL. (Actually the free range chickens here are probably healthier than ours.)

I have included some pictures of our local government hospital. 

Tune in next month for more news on the Orphans and Albinos.