Uganda ScieGirl

Government avails more cancer drugs

2012-02-06T13:03:00.003+03:00

Press release (Uganda Media Centre)

5th February 2012
Yesterday, Saturday the 4th of February, as Uganda joined the rest of the world to promote International World Cancer Day, the government announced it is driving the expansion of the Uganda Cancer Institute at Mulago.

The government set up the Uganda Cancer Institute in 1967 in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute in the US to provide a base for clinical and investigative research for possible causes and treatment for cancer. This put Uganda in the lead in the fight against cancer in Africa.

According to Dr. Jackson Orem, the Director Uganda Cancer Institute “The government is erecting a six storied building that will house two cancer theatres, wards for the patients, Intensive Care Units and storage of tissue for research and future reference.”

A plan has also been put in place to train more oncologists and other cancer specialists to boost the current human resource. “ICU is charged with identifying the right people for training and they undergo training both here and abroad,” said Dr. Orem.

It is alarming that out ofall new cancer cases diagnosed per yearthe majority of cases are reported too late. “The government would therefore like to remind the public that there are free cancer treatment drugs and other services at UCIMulago that are accessible free of charge to all Ugandans.”Hon. DR. Christine Ondoa, Minister of Health said yesterday.

The institute has one of the best drugs that treats leukaemia (Glivec) in the world. There is also a provision for private cancer patients that would like to pay for their own treatment.

The government yesterday however warned that cancer cases are on the increase worldwide,Hon. DR. Christine Ondoa, Minister of Health called upon the public “to be vigilant about their health and report infections early for treatment. Let us create awareness, of prevention and available treatment, let us work together to reduce new infections.”

Hon. DR. Christine Ondoa, Minister of Health.

Fred Opolot
Executive Director/ Media Centre

Uganda signs Production Sharing Agreements with Tullow Uganda Limited

2012-02-03T23:06:00.000+03:00

Press Release : www.petroleum.go.ug

The Government of Uganda has concluded negotiations with Tullow Uganda Limited for Petroleum Exploration licences over Exploration Area 1and Kanywataba Prospect and issued a Production Licence over the Kingfisher Field on February 3rd 2012 at Amber House, Kampala.

The two Exploration Licences in the PSAs and the Production Licence have been issued under Sections 9 and 22 respectively of the Petroleum (Exploration & Production) Act, Chapter 150 of the Laws of Uganda, 2000.

Government and Tullow Uganda Limited entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the development of the petroleum resources discovered in Exploration Areas 1, 2 and 3A. The parties to the MOU, recognizing the time lost during the tax dispute over the sale of Heritage’s interests in Uganda to Tullow Uganda Limited, agreed to grant new licences over the Kanywataba Prospect Area and Exploration Area 1, for Six months and One year respectively.

It was agreed that Tullow could apply for the Kingfisher Field in accordance with Section 20(3) of the Act. Tullow duly applied for a production licence over the Kingfisher Field which has been granted today.

The PSAs for Kanywataba Prospect and EA1 have the following provisions among others:

a) Minimum Work Programme together with the Minimum Exploration Expenditure.
b) An Advisory Committee consisting of representatives from Government and the Licensee to review and approve all annual exploration work programmes, budgets and production forecasts.
c) An Initial Royalty based on progressive incremental production and an additional Royalty as a percentage of the value of the recovered reserves.
d) State Participation by Government or its Nominee at Production Level.
e) Cost Recovery limits for Oil Production and Gas Production set at different levels.
f) Production Sharing based on incremental production after deduction of Initial Royalty and the Cost Recovery
g) A Signature Bonus of US$ 200,000 and US$ 300,000 respectively upon signing of the PSA to Government.
h) Each of these two PSAs in addition have provisions for a discovery bonus of United States dollars two million (US$2,000,000).
i) All taxes will be paid in accordance with to the Laws of Uganda. The rate of income Tax presently stands at 30%.
j) A requirement to train and employ suitably qualified Ugandan citizens in addition to payment of annual training fees to Government.
k) Payment of annual surface rentals computed differently for exploration and production phases per square kilometre.

One of the key aspects that delayed the signing of these PSAs was the issue of Stabilisation and the proposal by Oil Companies to Export the Crude Oil. Government’s proposal to revise the standard Stabilisation Clause was accepted by Tullow and has been adopted in the PSAs signed today. In addition, they have agreed to Government’s policy of establishing a refinery in the country and consideration for export of crude will be made as more reserves are discovered in the country.

The Albertine Graben, the area with the potential for petroleum production in the Western rift valley of the country is now subdivided into eleven Exploration Areas (EAs). Out of these, EA1, EA2, EA4B, EA5 are licensed to Tullow Uganda Limited, Tullow Uganda Operations Pty Ltd., Dominion Uganda Limited and Neptune Petroleum Uganda Limited, respectively.

The EA1 licence area lies in the Pakwach Basin, and covers a total area of 3,058 square kilometres. The area covers parts of the districts of Nebbi, Nwoya, Kiryandongo, Masindi and Buliisa. The Kanywataba prospect area and the Kingfisher Production Area formed part of the original EA3A prior to relinquishment by Heritage. Kanywataba prospect covers a total area of 171 square kilometres and lies in Ntoroko District, while Kingfisher Production area measures 344 square kilometres and lies in Hoima and Kibaale Districts.

Contact:
The Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development
Email; psmemd@energy.go.ug Web; www.energyand minerals.go.ug / www.petroleum.go.ug Tel. 0414-344414

East Africa progress on polythene bag elimination

2012-02-03T10:40:00.000+03:00

(Press Release) … if assented to, law shall sustain environment and protect human and animal lives
East African Legislative Assembly, Kampala, Uganda, February 3, 2012: The EAC Polythene Materials Control Bill, 2011 passed in the House late yesterday evening . The Bill thus inches closer to an Act of the Community should the EAC Heads of State assent to the same.

The Bill moved by Hon Patricia Hajabakiga, Member from Rwanda aims at providing a legal framework for the preservation of a clean and healthy environment through the prohibition of manufacturing, sale, importation and use of polythene materials.

Justifying the move to have the regional law in place, Hon Hajabakiga stated that the Bill is intended to control the use of polythenes while advocating the total ban of plastics. The mover notes several dangers of plastics and polythene materials notably soil degradation through burning of wastes, harmful emissions of toxics and the endangering of human and animal lives. She further indicates that while plastics can be burned, they emit chemicals and the corresponding photo-degradation has consequential impact on human and infrastructure.

Countries such as Bangladesh, Botswana, Israel, Rwanda and France among others have since enacted a similar law, Hon Hajabakiga said.

The Chairperson of the Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources Committee, Hon Safina Kwekwe whose Committee the Assembly mandated to look through the Bill, remarked that the Committee had met various stakeholders in the Partner States during the public hearings. The meetings were called to create awareness of plastics and visit plastic manufacturers with a view to interfacing with them and suggesting for improvements on the Bill

In its report, the Committee states that Rwanda which has an existing law in place supported the Bill while requesting for inclusion of a clause on alternatives to polythene materials as well as an incentive programme. Uganda enacted a law for the control of polythene materials in 2009 although the law is yet to be fully implemented. There are challenges with respect to disposal of such wastes owing to absence of recycling facilities, the Committee reported.

Stakeholders in Kenya were of the view that while polythenes are an environmental menace, a balance needs to be struck between eradicating them on the one side and the promotion and protection of investments on the other.

The stakeholders in Kenya suggested adjustment to specifications of polythene materials other than a total ban and the introduction of a levy to allow the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) to manage the waste.

The United Republic of Tanzania and the Republic of Burundi also support the Bill, but on the understanding that only plastic bags should be banned and not all polythene materials. In Zanzibar, the report notes - issues concerning the environment are non-union and in 2008, the isle took the initiative to ban the use of plastics with a three year transitional period, expiring last year, provided for in the law.

Stakeholders during public hearings however raised counter arguments including loss of income, jobs and reduced revenue affecting the economies. The issue of measuring of the microns, the House was told, is expensive even though it was suggested that balancing of revenues earned by governments compared to the very act of checking the environment should be taken into consideration.

During debate, majority of the Members rose in support of the Bill. Hon Emerence Bucumi hailed the Assembly’s decision to protect the environment noting that the region should emulate Rwanda’s example.

“We must protect the environment and share common interests in our desire to ensure a healthy environment,” Hon. Bucumi said.

Hon. Christophe Bazivamo remarked that plastic bags were not only a menace to the environment but also harmed livestock. Other Members in support were Hon. Dr. George Nangale and Hon Margaret Zziwa.

Kenyan Assistant Minister for EAC Hon. Peter Munya reiterated the Council of Ministers’ support for the Bill.

“Polythene waste is a major hindrance in urban and rural areas and attempts to ensure solid waste management is thus essential and welcome. The envisaged law in the Council’s view, shall control pollution and save both flora and fauna,” he said.

“Further attempts to ban the plastics in the region have not been entirely successful in the Partner States save for Rwanda and it is now time to collectively act,” Hon Munya added.

The Minister also presented mind boggling statistics of the use of plastic bags noting that the continent was most affected.

Amendments that sailed through during the debate include a change in title with the replacement of the word polythene with plastic to read “The East African Community Plastic Control Bill”. This, Members agree has a wider scope and is consequential.

The Bill shall now go through the succeeding stages of assent with the Speaker of the Assembly expected to submit the amended copies to the Heads of State for assent. Should it be assented to (signed) to by the five Heads of State, the East African Community Plastic Control Bill shall become law. In event that one or more Heads of State do not assent to the Bill, it shall be returned to the Assembly.

For more information, contact: Bobi Odiko, Senior Public Relations Officer; East African Legislative Assembly; Tel: +255-27-2508240 Cell: +255 787 870945, +254-733-718036; Email: bodiko@eachq.org Web: http://www.eala.org Arusha, Tanzania

Bujagali Hydropower project to earn Carbon Credit Income

2012-02-01T21:20:00.000+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi

Uganda’s Bujagali Hydropower Project has been approved as aClean Development Mechanism (CDM) and sustainable development project by theNetherlands, the designated Authority for this activity.

As a CDM it could earn about $17 million per year fromselling certified emission reduction (CER) credits to industrialized countries,as part of their emission reduction targets, under the Kyoto Protocol of the UNframework Convention for climate change.

“It is like a thank you on a project that will save theenvironment not only on site but on electricity usage as pressure on theenvironment will be reduced. It will also earn us some revenue,” said Mr.Bukenya Matovu the head of communications in the Ministry of Energy and MineralDevelopment.

Under the deal, the Uganda Government will receive 60percent of the carbon credit income and 40 percent will go to Bujagali EnergyLimited (BEL) the project sponsor which will also control the revenue.

The 250-megawatt project is the largest private investmentever in East Africa, and now becomes the only capital-intensive project inAfrica to be financed through carbon credit income, a key decision that equityfinanciers of the project considered before financing the project.

Investment experts say it is now common internationalpractice that hydropower projects apply for CDM validation as it presentsinvestors especially in poor investment climates like Uganda with additionalfinancial incentive and security through the carbon credit revenue stream.

In the Bujagali case it was a key factor in the decision toinvest made by Sithe Global, the main shareholder in BEL and equity investor inthe project.

BEL is a project- specific company owned by IndustrialPromotion Services

Kenya Limited (IPS Kenya) and SG Bujagali Holdings Ltd, anaffiliate of Sithe Global, an American power company majority owned by privateequity giant, The Blackstone Group based in the USA.

According to the ERM Group, the world’s largest provider ofenvironment, health and safety certification, Bujagali qualifies to be a CDMbecause of the technology applied- hydropower replacing fossil fuel electricitygeneration.

The technology will result in reductions of greenhouse gasemissions in Uganda particularly targeting CO2 emissions that in the absence ofthe project activity would have been generated by diesel and heavy fuel oilgenerators. It will also avoid the need for future oil fired generation, saysthe ERM Group validation report released this month.

The project will also not create emissions as it is arenewable energy (hydropower) project, and has no fossil-fuelled power tosupply to the grid. If at all, from the two emergency stand-by dieselgenerators on site, the annual diesel would be less than 1 percent of emissionsreduction, a reasonable amount, according to ERM certification and verificationservices (ERM CVS).

Bujagali hydropower project has a total installed capacityof 250 MW and is estimated to be fully operational by June 2012 to generate1,305 GWh (net) per year to the electricity grid.

According to ERM CVS, the Bujagali CER revenue presents tothe Uganda government a secure stream of revenue that will provide a bufferfrom the foreign exchange rate risk and from the default on its commitments topurchase electricity from BEL.

The carbon credit revenue for Bujagali will be in foreigncurrencies either US $ or Euros which will help the government offset theforeign currency exchange risks associated with meeting the electricitypayments that it faces.

The Power Purchase Agreement spells out that UgandaElectricity Transmission Company (UETCL), purchases from BEL all power producedby the Bujagali Project, under a sovereign guarantee by the government ofUganda.

But, Ugandan consumers pay for electricity in Ugandashillings while BEL to be paid $116 million per year after the project startsrunning- is paid in US Dollars, which creates an exchange rate risk for thegovernment as the Uganda shilling fluctuates significantly against the USdollar. For instance the shilling declined in value against the US $ by about50 percent since 2000.

CDM is the main source of income for the UNFCCC AdaptationFund. The project was validated on its project design documents,site assessments and resolution of outstanding issues.

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LONG-TERM WORLDWIDE DECLINE IN ABORTIONS HAS STALLED

2012-01-20T01:38:00.000+03:00

Press Release from Guttmacher

After a period of substantial decline, the global abortionrate has stalled, according to new research from the Guttmacher Institute andthe World Health Organization (WHO). Between 1995 and 2003, the overall number of abortions per 1,000women of childbearing age (15–44 years) dropped from 35 to 29; according to thenew study, the global abortion rate in 2008 was virtually unchanged, at 28 per1,000.

This plateau coincides with a slowdown, documented by the UnitedNations, in contraceptive uptake, which has been especially marked indeveloping countries. The researchers also found that nearly half of allabortions worldwide are unsafe, and almost all unsafe abortions occur in thedeveloping world. The study, InducedAbortion: Incidence and Trends Worldwide from 1995 to 2008, by Gilda Sedghet al., was published online today by TheLancet.

In the developing world, the abortion rate was 29 per1,000 in both 2003 and 2008, after falling from 34 per 1,000 between 1995 and2003. The situationwas somewhat different in the developed world, excluding Eastern Europe,where the abortion rate was much lower, at 17 per 1,000 in 2008, havingdeclined slightly from a rate of 20 in 1995.

“The declining abortion trend we had seen globally has stalled, and we are also seeing a growing proportion ofabortions occurring in developing countries, where the procedure is oftenclandestine and unsafe. This is cause for concern,” says Gilda Sedgh, leadauthor of the study and a senior researcher at the Guttmacher Institute.

“Thisplateau coincides with a slowdown in contraceptive uptake. Without greater investmentin quality family planning services, we can expect this trend to persist.”

Researchfrom WHO shows that complications due to unsafe abortion continued to accountfor an estimated 13% of all maternal deaths worldwide in 2008; almost all ofthese deaths occurredin developing countries.

Globally, unsafe abortion accounted for 220 deaths per 100,000 procedures in2008, 350 times the rate associated with legal induced abortions in the UnitedStates (0.6 per 100,000). Unsafe abortion is also asignificant cause of ill-health: Each year approximately8.5 million women in developing countries experience abortion complications seriousenough to require medical attention, and three million of them do not receivethe needed care.

“Deaths anddisability related to unsafe abortion are entirely preventable, and someprogress has been made in developing regions. Africa is the exception,accounting for 17% of the developing world's population of women ofchildbearing age but half of all unsafe abortion–related deaths,"notes Iqbal H. Shah, of the WHO and a coauthor of the study.

“Withindeveloping countries, risks are greatest for the poorest women. They have theleast access to family planning services and are the most likely to suffer thenegative consequences of an unsafe procedure. Poor women also have the leastaccess to postabortion care, when they need treatment for complications.”

The findings provide further evidence that restrictiveabortion laws are not associated with lower rates of abortion. For example, the2008 abortion rate was 29 per 1,000 women of childbearing age in Africa and 32per 1,000 in Latin America, regions where abortion is highly restricted inalmost all countries. In contrast, in WesternEurope, where abortion is generally permitted on broad grounds, the rate is 12.
The Southern Africa subregion, where close to 90% of women live underSouth Africa’s liberal abortion law, has the lowest abortion rate in Africa, at15 per 1,000 women. Other very low subregional rates are found in WesternEurope (12) and Northern Europe (17), where both abortion and contraception arewidely available either for free or at very low cost.

Eastern Europe presents a very different situation, with an abortionrate that is nearly four times that of Western Europe. This discrepancy correspondswith Eastern Europe’s relatively low levels of modern contraceptive use and lowprevalence of highly effective methods such as the pill and the IUD. After astriking decline in the abortion rate between 1995 and 2003, from 90 to 44 per1,000 women, Eastern Europe experienced virtually no change in the rate between2003 and 2008.

"These latest figures are deeply disturbing.The progress made in the 1990s is now in reverse. Promoting and implementingpolicies to reduce the number of abortions is now an urgent priority for allcountries and for global health agencies, such as WHO,” says Richard Horton,editor of The Lancet. “Condemning,stigmatizing, and criminalizing abortion are cruel and failed strategies. It'stime for a public health approach that emphasizes reducing harm - and thatmeans more liberal abortion laws."

The full article and relatedmaterials can be found online @ http://www.guttmacher.org

Price monitoring tool for maize

2012-01-16T14:35:00.000+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi

A price-monitoring tool that will make available monthly updates of staple food prices is to be developed for east and central Africa countries.

The software-monitoring tool will seek to increase competition and resilience to price volatility and kicks off early this year with the monitoring of maize prices, the major staple food of this region.

“We will be giving monthly updates of food prices and balances. We will also be trying out a forecasting model so that we can be more prepared, but this may take some time to adapt adequately,” said Dr. Michael Waithaka the Policy Analysis and Advocacy programme (PAAP) manager at the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa (ASARECA).

The monitoring tool will use food price indexes generated by each of the countries’ bureau of statistics every month. The information will then be analyzed and distributed to all countries to create price awareness.

One of the envisaged solutions the tool will offer to local markets is the flow of food from surplus to deficit areas and from markets where the prices are low to where prices are high reducing food shortages.

But this would only work if the regions’ markets were integrated so that food security is improved from a country to a regional level. The high price volatility in the region is associated with the weak integration of the food markets.

High food prices also have a negative effect on trade for Africa, a net food importer, which spends about $20 billion annually on food imports. For instance, 45 percent of rice and 85 percent of wheat consumed in Africa is imported, according to statistics from United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).

Dr. Waithaka warned that the monitoring tool would not be the sole solution for the volatile prices since the causes vary a lot but each country would be considered individually to determine the impacts and then they will propose a basket of options.

Since 2010, the east and central African region suffered volatile food prices due to a combination of global causes and region specific factors.

Domestic food prices within this region increased to unprecedented levels in tandem with global food prices, which reached the highest level on record in February 2011, the highest since the inception of the FAO food price index (FPI) in 1990 to suggest a food price crisis.

In east Africa specifically, prices escalated due to recurrent droughts, high input prices in the agricultural sector, which also has low investment and a rapidly expanding population that has created a high demand for food with no corresponding supply.

As food prices escalated, countries in the region imposed trade policy measures like import tariff reductions as well as export taxes and bans to protect their populations from starving.

Export bans were the most famous trade policy measure in the region which unfortunately was a missed opportunity as a ‘crisis is a terrible thing to waste’ said Joseph Karugia, the coordinator Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System for Eastern and Central Africa (ReSAKSS-ECA).

“In the 70’s and 80’s we complained about low prices but now that they are high we continue to complain. A regional response would be an opportunity to address the food price crisis,” said Karugia.

Karugia said high food prices would prompt exploitation of regional diversity and facilitate regional trade with priority actions including removal of export bans, elimination of non-tariff barriers and upgrading infrastructure of main regional trade corridors.

Country responses to high food prices;

But all this happened in the reverse, food exports were banned in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. As food security got further threatened, Kenya slapped a temporary ban on export of seeds.

Tanzania followed suit, banning exports of cereals until the food security was analyzed and further refused to lift the ban even when it reported a surplus. Uganda did not limit export of food partly to maintain the export-oriented nature of Uganda’s agriculture sector, which is almost entirely engaged in food production.

President Yoweri Museveni explained the situation and argued farmers to take advantage of the high prices and traders to invest more in agriculture but the public would not believe him. He was booed at the youth gathering in Arua.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) later applauded Uganda for adhering to a market-oriented approach and keeping true to its title of a ‘food basket’ in the region and not imposing a food ban.

While in Rwanda, the price of maize the main staple crop, almost doubled and food security was threatened with hardly anything to export. In effect, Uganda was the country in the region that responded with a level head to take advantage of the volatile prices in 2010/2011.

Scientists believe that with the monitoring tool that will avail food prices in an integrated market, the east and central African region would partly be rid of price volatility, not entirely but to a decent level.

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Chinese-made TB vaccine comes soon

2012-01-16T14:28:00.000+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi

Tuberculosis vaccines may become affordable and readily available to the developing world, as China’s expanding role as a vaccine manufacturer becomes visible in global health.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO) about 2 billion people live with latent TB and globally it is responsible for the death of 1.4 million people annually. Vaccines are the most cost-effective biomedical intervention in medical history.

But as much as tuberculosis has created a public health crisis in the developing world, it is also a major public health priority in China, where there are more than one million new TB cases every year.

Last week, January 10th, Aeras the leading non-profit developer of TB vaccine candidates and China National Biotec Group (CNBG) the largest biotechnology corporation in China signed an agreement to develop new TB vaccines.

"The synergy created by bringing together our scientific and manufacturing expertise could have a substantial impact on efforts to advance innovative candidates in TB vaccine development," said Jim Connolly, President and CEO of Aeras.

Aeras will provide financial support and technical expertise - licensing its recombinant BCG platform - which aims to improve upon the current TB vaccine - and other technologies to CNBG.

While multiple research institutes in China operating under the umbrella of CNBG will be engaged in the development, manufacturing and distribution of affordable new TB vaccines for use globally.

The team will engineer a variety of candidate booster vaccines to match the new constructs with a goal to create more efficacious and longer-lasting protection against TB disease.

China expanding role as a vaccine manufacturer;

But in a bigger picture, the move shows the growing trend of collaborations between Chinese vaccine manufacturers and multinational players. Chinese vaccines are hitting the world market rapidly and its manufacturing capacity is improving.

Scientists claim Chinese-made vaccines will become more widely available to the global market within five years. Today, China’s 40 domestic vaccine manufacturers produce 49 types of vaccines that protect against 27 diseases, according to the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR).

The industry’s massive annual output totals nearly 1 billion doses, the world’s highest yield in terms of a single national economy’s vaccine output.

“Lots of Chinese labs, buildings, hardware, and equipment are as good as those of multinationals, if not better,” said Kewen Jin, the General Manager, Aura Partners at the Pacific Health Summit.

WHO is closely working with Chinese vaccine manufacturers- providing training for inspectors and auditors- and also approved China’s State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) in March 2011 as a functional regulatory authority for vaccines.

Chinese-made vaccines approved by the SFDA thus ultimately match international quality standards.
But specifically, China’s entry into the world vaccine market could result in two particularly game-changing turning points: lowering global procurement prices and reducing supply shortages.

Universally, China is known for its low-priced products that may go for Chinese-made vaccines too and has the potential to bring more vaccines to more countries and people.

Markets guaranteed to be impacted include the GAVI-eligible countries-including all east African countries- as GAVI is likely to be a high-volume purchaser of prequalified Chinese- made vaccines, confirmed NBR.

However, as acknowledged by Pacific Health Summit participants in Seattle last year, the traditionally low price points of Chinese-made products have contributed to low public confidence and perceptions of poorer product quality.

The world’s perception of ‘China price’ of Chinese-made vaccines may be inaccurate with its long experience producing traditional vaccines and big volumes of manufacturing levels, said Jack Zhang the director China Program, PATH.

But certainly, China’s entry in the global market means an overall average price drop for vaccines, which could make a difference for the world to meet the Millennium Development Goals and in this Aeras and CNBG collaboration for Tuberculosis.

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Ugandans sleepless over Americans access to their airwaves

2012-01-02T09:39:00.002+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi

American Tower Corporation has taken over all MTN Uganda towers in Uganda but this is having a backlash on the deal as Ugandan consumers think this could be a ploy by Americans to access their ‘airwaves’ and hijack their base stations.

Early December, the American Tower Corporation, a leading owner and operator of wireless and broadcast communication sites in North America, and MTN Group Limited entered into a definitive agreement to establish a new joint venture tower company in Uganda.

ATC Uganda, formed out of this joint venture, has acquired all MTN Uganda’s existing 1,000 tower sites, for $175 million, a statement from Boston said. The company also owns Essar Telecom Infrastructure, which it acquired last year.

To Ugandans, the acquisition is significant because it will spur outsourcing among telecoms, which has only started with tower sharing. But to others, in a combination of ignorance and fear, the Americans will be monitoring Uganda’s ‘airwaves’, infringing on their privacy and hasten insecurity.

“It makes sense for telecoms to divest the business of handling masts to third party companies, through outsourcing but I feel we do not need an American company to do it, Ugandan companies have been doing it,” said Fred Bbale, a systems administrator working with the Government.

The debate has been going back and fourth on an IT professionals knowledge sharing online forum, I-network about how it would now be an easy walk for Americans to access and monitor all MTN Ugandans subscribers financial details. Through mobile money? Maybe.

“It will be easier for Americans to monitor their interests in the Uganda economy if they get direct control on MTN Towers. Our personal details with MTN cannot be safe with Americans. Generally it is a threat!” wrote Hadadi Kigozi on the I-Network Dgroup.

Another young University law student also a subscriber with MTN said he knows that even with just using the blackberry or iphone, the Americans can easily know his location and know what he is communicating and with whom. So acquisition to the MTN towers would just give them more access to him and he hates it.

However, there is a difference of opinion at least by a few who think it has no effect. “There is no personal details of yours on tower sites unless you had your name, address and phone number etched into the metal of the towers,” commented Noah Sematimba of Warid Telecoms.

“The Americans do not even need access to the towers to monitor the 'waves' being talking about. Anybody can do that. There are a lot of cheap tools available for GSM hacking and base station hijacking available and with some little extra effort, anybody could replicate what they think the Americans can do without going to the towers,” said James Wire Lunghabo an IT consultant and managing director of Linux Solutions.

ATC Uganda will be managed by American Tower, which will hold a 51percent stake and pay $89 million for this stake while MTN Group will hold a 49 percent stake. American Tower also expects that ATC Uganda will build approximately 280 tower sites for MTN Uganda over the next three years. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2012, upon which, ATC Uganda will be the largest owner and operator of tower sites in Uganda.

“Even Wikipedia would tell you that they do not need ATC Uganda-the newly created company- to do what they need to do,” commented Paul Bagyenda a computer scientist. But the dread of ‘Americans are coming’, the IT gurus still is worrisome to some Ugandans.

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Uganda children ailing with nodding Disease

2011-12-23T15:49:00.000+03:00

It is quite interesting that for several years the noddingdisease has been existent in Uganda but very little is known about it in themedical world here. This reminds me of a ‘strange disease’ as described in themedia, which was killing especially children only to be discovered asmalnutrition.

Uganda has no disease historians, otherwise why would wehave a disease running through the community for several years and every timeno one knows how to diagnose it. It is a ‘strange disease.’

According to Wikipedia, ‘Nodding disease or noddingsyndrome’ is a new, little-known disease which emergedin Sudan in the 1980s. It isa fatal, mentally and physically disabling disease that only affects youngchildren typically between the ages of 5 and 15.

It is currently restricted to small regions in South Sudan,Tanzania and Uganda says Wikipedia.

This time round, the ‘nodding’ disease initial assessmentsby the Uganda Ministry of Health, local authorities and Civil societyOrganisations have found that in 2011, over 2000 children have been infected.Over 60 young of these have died while hundreds have dropped out of school.

With no laboratories to carry out tests in Uganda, samplesfrom children have been sent to Atlanta, USA, the Ministry of Health says. Butbeing a festive season, they are unlikely to be returned on time.

The ripple effect on the family is even bigger. Mothers whoare supposed to tend their gardens stay at home to now look after sickchildren, so food security is threatened at the household level, and they arestigmatized. At the community level, the affected families are shunned sodiscussion about it is limited.

According to experts, the "nodding disease" causesseizures, and affected children become physically and mentally stunted, whichcan lead to blindness and even death. It has been linked to Onchocerciasis and epilepsybecause it has similar symptoms.

Despite this scenario, the budget for health research forthis financial year was reduced and no special provisions have been put intoplace to ensure additional and necessary medicines and personnel for placesaffected with ‘nodding disease’.

This year, Uganda has had record economic growth rates andan increasing revenue base over the past decade, yet we find that investment inhealth as a percentage of the national budget declined during this period andstagnated at around 8 to 9% says the ‘Right to health group’ in Uganda. Percapita investment in health in Uganda today is about 7 US$ per person when theWHO minimum recommended rate is 41 US$.

Press statement on the Ministry’scampaign against the Nodding Syndrome

24^th January 2012

Ministry of Healthdevelops Emergency Response Plan to tackle Nodding Syndrome in Northern Uganda

TheMinistry of Health has developed a comprehensive Emergency Response Plan totackle the increasing cases of Nodding Disease in the northern districts ofKitgum, Lamwo and Pader. The Plan provides an integrated response to thedisease through a coordinated mechanism that will ultimately identify the causeand control of the disease syndrome to the level where it is no longer ofpublic health importance.
The diseaseis characterized by head nodding, mental retardation and stunted growth. It wasfirst reported to the Ministry of Health by Kitgum District Health Office inAugust 2009. Currently, over 3000 children in the northern districts have beenaffected by the disease. This is not a new disease. Similar cases were alsoreported in Tanzania and Southern Sudan.
Since 2009,the Ministry of Health has been undertaking a number of measures to control itsspread. Among these is the provision of supportive treatment to the children,training of health workers, massive sensitization and conducting research onthe cause and control of the disease.
Initialstudies conducted by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Centrefor Disease Control (CDC) did not indicate any conclusive cause of the disease.However, the new response plan will see an extensive research programme aboutthe cause and spread of the diseases. This research programme will beundertaken by the Ministry of Health, CDC, universities in Uganda and other HealthDevelopment Partners.
Initial activationfunding has been mobilised from the Ministry of Health budget. The NationalTaskforce on Epidemic Preparedness and Response chaired by the Ministry ofHealth is currently in the process of mobilising resources from its partners. TheMinistry will in addition submit a Supplementary Budget request to the Ministryof Finance, Planning and Economic Development to support the Response Plan.
The Response Planthat has also been shared with the Acholi Parliamentary Group, provides for theprocurement and distribution of medicines and other supplies to affectedcommunities. The medicines will be dispersed to hospitals and health centresthat are easily accessible to the affected communities.
The Ministry willin addition set up screening and treatment centres in affected districts. Thesecentres will be beefed up with supplementary staff consisting of at least apsychiatric clinical officer, psychiatric nurse, nutritionist and counsellor.The designated centres will be opened by end of February. These are; PadibeHealth centre IV for Lamwo district, Kitgum Hospital for Kitgum while Pajule HealthCentre IV will cater for Padre District. These centres will be supported bymonthly outreach programs to the affected communities.
Psychiatryexperts shall also be engaged from Mulago and Butabika National ReferralHospitals, as well as other regional hospitals, to train the screening teams atthe designated centres.
TheImplementation of the Response Plan will be multi-sectoral involving variousstakeholders at district and central level. These include; Ministries of;Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Gender and Labour, LocalGovernment, Education and Sports and Office of the Prime Minister as well asUniversities and Research Institutions. The Ministry of Health has so far senta request to the Office of the Prime Minister to supply emergency nutritionalsupplements to the designated screening and treatment centres.
The Ministryis working closely with the affected local governments and political leadershipto mobilise communities to seek medical assistance from the designated screeningcentres. Districts have also been requested to incorporate the activities intotheir district plans and budgets.
The Minsitryof health is in addition working with a number of Development Partners toimplement this plan. These include World health Organisation, Centre forDisease Control (CDC), UNICEF, USAID and MF-Spain.
I appeal tothe Members of Parliament and district leaders from the Acoli sub-region towork with the Ministry of Health to ensure proper coordination andimplementation of the Response Plan.
I appeal toaffected communities to stay calm as we find a lasting solution to this problem.
The Ministryof Health informs the public that it is doing everything in its control tomanage the spread of the disease in northern Uganda. I assure the public thatwe continue our commitment to the prevention and fighting of disease throughoutUganda.
FOR GOD AND MYCOUNTRY
Hon. Christine Ondoa
Minister of Health

Save and Conserve the Sweet potato

2011-12-19T20:26:00.001+03:00

The Rome-based Global Crop Diversity Trust and the International Potato Center (CIP) in Peru are finalizing a US$1 million five-year renewable grant to support, maintain, conserve and make available sweet potato varieties.

Sweet potatoes produce more edible energy per hectare per day than wheat, rice or cassava. Research in Uganda has shown that sweet potato is effective in preventing vitamin A deficiency, which is a major cause of sickness and death among young children in Africa. Esther Nakkazi spoke to Dr. Robert Mwanga the sweet potato breeder for sub-Saharan Africa at International Potato Center about it.

1. Why the sweet potato and not another crop for this grant?

Sweet potato is a major food crop yet it has had little funding for research and development compared to other major staples. Its contribution to food and nutrition security in the developing world is increasingly being recognized. Conserving available farmers’ varieties is urgent for exploitation for traits such as drought tolerance in the face of climate change.

2. Will a particular type of sweet potato be promoted in sub-Saharan Africa under the project?

Each active nationals sweet potato program conducts experiments on its sweet potato breeding materials or ‘varieties’ to select the best performing and preferred varieties for farmers, and the market. In general it is desirable for countries to promote high yielding varieties which have advantages for example high in beta-carotene (Vitamin A) to reduce the high prevalence of vitamin deficiency on the continent; varieties with high resistance to weevils, because if weevils are not controlled there will be total loss of storage roots; varieties with resistance to diseases such as sweet potato virus disease and Alternaria blight which can be devastating to the crop, and varieties with drought tolerance to obtain substantial root yields under harsh drought conditions.

3. Sweet potatoes have several flaws like perishability. What sort of technologies will the project develop to address these?

This project addresses constraints to do with conservation of farmers’ varieties and wild relatives of the cultivated sweet potato. Constraints (flaws) such as perishability and processing quality can be addressed indirectly by this project by conserving sweet potato varieties, which have such characteristics, which are important to farmers and consumers. Farmers can use varieties with the desirable characteristics directly as varieties or in breeding by research institutes to produce new improved varieties.

4. What will be the role of local institutions you will work with? Which ones are you targeting in Uganda, Rwanda?

In general with other CIP projects, the local institutions collaborate with CIP as partners to accomplish the goals of the projects. In Uganda on this project, the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) of the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) is the partner. In Rwanda, Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB), Southern Agriculture Zone Division (formerly ISAR at Rubona), hosts our related projects. When activities on this project are extended to Rwanda RAB will be the partner.

5. How will the project enable the smallholder farmers who grow sweet potatoes improve their incomes?

CIP works with national programs to improve the farmers’ varieties in different countries. The national sweet potato programs can access sweet potato varieties from CIP/Lima or the regional Sub-Saharan Africa offices. The national programs can use those varieties directly or use them in their breeding programs to improve their local varieties to produce improved varieties better suited for the market and home consumption or for livestock feed or processing. Improved varieties in terms of nutrition -high beta-carotene or Vitamin A-, and yield can lead to self-sufficiency for food and sell of excess leading to improved nutrition and income.

6. What will this project add to cancer research on the sweet potato?

This project is not directly working on cancer research. Sweet potato, particularly varieties with purple-fleshed roots are a rich source of compounds called anthocyanins, which have medicinal value as anti-oxidants and cancer preventing agents. Linkage of this project to any potential project on cancer research would be to provide appropriate sweet potato germplasm if required.

7. What challenges do you envisage with this project?

Collection of sweet potato varieties from countries where there are unique farmers’ varieties, but resources are limiting for those countries to collect those varieties for long-term conservation. Some countries may not have realized the threat of loss of sweet potato varieties due to different factors such wars, floods, drought and climate change, so may not see the urgency of conservation, especially long term conservation.

Also published on Africa STI http://www.africasti.com/interview/us-1-million-to-save-the-sweet-potato-in-perpetuity

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Mama Great Lakes leaves peace and security abound

2011-12-19T20:12:00.000+03:00

Q&A:
Ambassador Liberata Mulamula (Mama Great Lakes) is the outgoing Executive Secretary of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). She was in Kampala to attend the 4th ordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Forum of Parliaments for the eleven member States. Esther Nakkazi spoke to her about her five-year term at the helm of ICGLR and how she realized the goal of keeping peace and security in the region.

QN: What has been most challenging in your job at ICGLR?
I was the first Executive Secretary of ICGLR and I had to establish it from scratch. I have seen it grow within its mandate of establishing peace and security.

QN 2; What were your achievements during your five-year tenure in office? The region was very unstable, there was rebellion in Burundi, guns in the Democratic Republic of Congo but we have seen some of this end like Burundi is stable and they had elections. Through this framework we were also able to contain rebel leaders like Congolese rebel leader Laurent Nkunda.

In my tenure, nine countries have undergone elections under the last two years. I had to deploy election observers because as ICGLR we had to see to it that elections are held in a peaceful manner, we bring in politicians and engage all the parties prior.

We have deployed former leaders like Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania. We deploy different people depending on the mandate but people identify themselves with past leaders and they also mobilize political will. Even if we still have challenges of armed groups; what we have achieved so far has given me a lot of satisfaction.

QN 3: What makes ICGLR different from other similar organisations?
The convening power and the ability to address issues which are unique to the Great Lakes region. By convening power, I mean, the Conference brings together everybody; civil society sits on the same table as government; women and youth play an equal role. No body can cry that they are left out.

QN 4. There are concerns that the resolutions you make may not be legally binding. What should be done to enforce them?
We have legally binding resolutions since we operate under a pact but implementation of the commitments is lacking in the sense that Heads of State take decisions but when they go back, it is left to the secretariat to push for implementation.
We also need implementation at the institutional level. There are weaknesses of follow up. For instance we talk about Sexual and Gender Based Violence but there are places with no police stations. Women are raped and they cannot report it. There is a vacuum.
You also need a lot of political will. I have seen it. To get it you have to do a lot and get the political leaders to commit and make resources available so that we implement whatever decision is taken.

QN: How are member states performing in terms of funding ICGLR?
We have had 80 percent contribution, so member States are doing very well and they fund most of our operations. With other funding, partners are earmarked for specific activities.
You know ICGLR is on good track. Countries are here because they believe in corporation, integration, consensus building, dialogue and good relations. It brings me hope that as we continue like this, it will bring us peace and stability in the region.

QN: Isn’t there duplication of efforts with other agencies like IGAD, the East African Community to which member States also belong?
We have a specific mandate as ICGLR, which is peace and stability to enable economic growth for communities. Usually, however, our roles are complementary although that is not what the public see. There is no duplication as such but what happens is organizations make competing decisions, which is where we find problems. Fortunately, we have signed Memorandum of Understandings with other regional organizations.

QN: How have you managed all of this with your family?
It is a balancing act as a mother and wife I have responsibilities. There is also so much sacrifice. You have no life of your own. By now I should be planning a birthday party for my son but I am here. There is a lot of understanding from my two children and my husband.
But my father modeled us in this way. In terms of leadership, he said, you have to be respected but live to your commitments and integrity.

QN: What about as a woman working with Heads of State and rebel leaders- has training and experience helped?
I am a political scientist by training and I have a Masters degree in Governance. I have worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tanzania and Foreign Service.
My relationship with Heads of States has been extremely good, they were all ready for my engagements and there is no single country in the region whose Head, I have not met in their own capital.
I helped build confidence with some rebel leaders. For instance I went to see Nkunda and he listened. When such people see me, they see themselves in me. They said I am not intimidating, they see mama who can listen and carry their message. This has helped build confidence. That is why they call me ‘mama Great Lakes’.

QN: Any departing words as executive secretary?
I am leaving a foundation for achieving peace and stability in this region.

Museveni dry HIV messages incapable of revamping public response

2011-12-07T13:12:00.001+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi

Civil society and People living with HIV in Uganda want theUganda AIDS Commission (UAC) and Ministry of Health to jointly launch a costednational strategy for rolling out a comprehensive HIV prevention and treatmentresponse and correctly advise on messages to the public.

They want the response to have concrete deliverable by 2015like getting at least 80% male circumcision coverage among adult men, rapid andstrategic scale up of ARV treatment to all people with HIV with CD4 cellsgreater than 350 but even earlier for serodiscordant couples, pregnant women,and other key populations.

The government should increase domestic funding andavailable funds should be accounted for transparently to ensure that funding isnot wasted, diverted, abused or stolen as well as strategic implementation ofpre-exposure prophylaxis project in vulnerable populations.

“President Obama just put forward a powerful down paymenttoward the end of the AIDS crisis,” said Lillian Mworeko, the ExecutiveDirector of the International Community of Women Living with HIV East Africa. “Butwe are deeply concerned that Uganda will not seize this opportunity—Governmentshould also double its investments in life saving treatment to turn the tide ofHIV in Uganda.”

U.S. President Barack Obama on World AIDS Day announced thatthe U.S. would scale up treatment access to reach a total of 6 million peopleon antiretroviral treatment by 2013 through the President’s Emergency Plan forAIDS Relief (PEPFAR)—doubling the pace of scale up for the programme. Obamacommitted the U.S. to using emerging science to “begin to end” the global AIDScrisis—a concept unimaginable just a few years ago.

Uganda activists also say, although there is various provennew research showing that expanding access is essential to getting ahead of theepidemic the president, Yoweri Museveni has not been advised correctly,accurately and based on scientific evidence.

For instance Museveni’s World AIDS Day message was negative,inaccurate, harmful and showed the continued lack of political will to revampthe national response to the HIV/AIDS crisis that has gone completely offtrack.

Ultimately, the message did not promote use of the newapproaches to HIV prevention and treatment that scientists and policymakers aredescribing as key to bringing about an end to the AIDS pandemic, the activistssaid.

In his 1 December 2011 speech, delivered by Vice PresidentHon. Edward Ssekandi, the President argued that the country should be “careful”of implementing “new medical tools” against HIV, because such innovations “canlead to laxity in behavior.”

The President argued that “eliminating negative sexualbehaviors” should be the fundamental priority in the country. Activists saythis message is not only inaccurate but also harmful, and

“Of course reaching communities, particularly most at riskpopulations, with accurate and high impact behavior-change interventions isimportant—but it is just not enough,” said Leonard Okello of the InternationalHIV/AIDS Alliance in Uganda. “We want a prevention and treatment revolution.”

Unprecedented new research findings have shown thatantiretroviral treatment for HIV not only saves lives, but it also reduces therisk of sexual transmission by 96%- http://bit.ly/uXYm00,making HIV treatment an incredibly powerful HIV prevention tool.

The “Partners PrEP” study, conducted in Uganda and Kenya,also found that antiretroviral drugs reduced the risk of infection by as muchas 73% when taken by HIV-negative people in serodiscordant relationships http://bit.ly/u59g3x

Safe medical male circumcision, and access to ARV treatmentfor HIV positive pregnant women are other crucial biomedical preventioninterventions that urgently need to be taken to national scale in Uganda.Expanding investments in these interventions will not only save lives—they willalso substantially reduce the costs of the AIDS response over time, accordingto experts.

“These data have provided hope that through acceleratedscale up of treatment, as well as other proven prevention and treatmentstrategies, the end of AIDS could be possible,” says Richard Hasunira,Coordinator of Uganda Civil Society HIV Prevention Working Group.

According to the activists, technical experts in theMinistry of Health are supportive of these new approaches—but thebackward-looking message from the President appeared designed by advisors whoare not keen on expanding government investments in the fight against the HIVepidemic.

Uganda’s response to HIV is faltering badly, according toexperts. Uganda is one of the few countries in the world with rising HIVinfection rates, with an estimated 132,500 infections annually. More than 50%of Ugandans in urgent need of HIV treatment currently do not have access totreatment to save their lives and prevent new infections. One in five new HIVinfections in Uganda are from mother to child.

“We have no time for equivocation as a country,” said Dr.Stephen Watiti, Board Chair of NAFOPHANU. “Our people are dying; incidence ratesare rising. Shaming people with talk of negative sexual behaviors is nothelpful at all, since as we all know many people are getting infected withoutpracticing what the President calls ‘negative sexual behavior.’

At this critical time, no one should be talking as if theyhave the moral high ground; it is not helpful. Moreover, all Ugandans needaccess to effective prevention and treatment services—not stigma andexclusion.”

Activists also expressed concern that Uganda was not makinguse of public health flexibilities that would make it easier for Uganda to gainaccess to low-cost, generic medicines, particularly in the future.

“Uganda needs to be forward looking—instead of makingexcuses, the government should take advantage of flexibilities other countriesare already using to reduce the price of essential medicines,” said MosesMulumba, Executive Director of Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development(CEHURD).

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Mobile phones use could spur access to contraception among youth

2011-12-01T21:29:00.001+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi

Access to mobile phones across the world is expanding and so is their use in bridging the gap in service delivery and education for family planning for over 215 million women who have no access.

Through innovative new programs, clinics in Tanzania are using mobile phones to track family planning supplies and avoid stockouts and in Nigeria, over 300,000 text messages were sent by youth about reproductive health to experts to inquire about contraceptives.

Increasingly, young people are utilizing mobile technologies to meet their sexual and reproductive health needs wherever they are, whenever they need help according to case studies in east and west Africa.

In Uganda, software programmers working in the ‘cloud’ were able to solve coding challenges for building the text message quiz functionality. Family planning supervisors in low resources organizations are now able to download the resulting platform, FrontlineSMS for use for free.

In Kenya and Tanzania, the M4RH -mobile for reproductive health- text message program provides basic information about nine different family planning methods as well as the locations of clinics where services are offered.   

Respondents in the study said they used m4RH so they could make informed decisions about reproductive health and learn about contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancies.   These are some of the mobile phone technologies being presented at the international family planning conference in Dakar, Senegal, which prove the innovative ways of how mobile phones are being used for family planning awareness and education.

These case studies bring into focus the nascent but promising role of mobile technologies to foster behavior change in Family Planning for providers, clients, and program implementers said researchers.

The technologies are especially helpful for reaching the ‘mobile generation’ in the developed world that give birth before 20 years, basically because they have low access to reproductive health information, supplies and education.

In one of the case studies in Tanzania and Kenya, ‘Family planning in a Digital world: Using Technology to promote family planning among young people’ it says mobile phones are regarded as a “high-impact practice” that can support the provision of family planning services and they offer a new mechanism for delivering health information in a highly relevant, private, and cost-effective manner.

In the Nigeria case study, since the launch in 2007 of ‘Learning about living’ analyses of more than 300,000 ‘screen hits’ showed that the most frequently accessed topic was natural family planning, followed by information about condoms, implants, and emergency contraception.

According to the researchers, it demonstrated that emerging technologies could provide a simple, cost-effective way to reach young people in developing countries with sensitive information they need and want.

They concluded that technology provides an anonymous way to address difficult subjects and engages young people more than traditional communication methods. The social nature of these tools also encourages the rapid spread of accurate, positive sexual and reproductive health messages.

With the use of mobile phones, Tanzania has been able to deliver family planning commodities to service delivery points in a timely manner. This was proven in a six month pilot study ‘Improving family planning commodity availability using mHealth technologies,’ that ended mid 2011 in four districts which were initially consistent with stock outs for commodities.

In the 75 Tanzania facilities, at scheduled time intervals, facility staff used their personal mobile phones to send text messages to report stock on hand, losses and adjustments of ten essential medicines- Copper T IUD, Depo-Provera, implants, condoms, Microgynon and Microvial - supervision frequency, delivery of goods, and report and request submissions.

The facility staff sent text messages to a toll-free short code, data was merged and displayed on an interactive web-based interfaced that prompted decision-making. Monthly reports were also emailed to decision makers at all levels.

It was found that mobile phone technology using cheap and readily available cell phones offers a possible sustainable solution to making quality logistics data for decision-making readily available in real-time.

All the users also indicated they preferred SMS based reporting compared to the paper-based system, they improved their reporting rates and adherence on reporting which in turn improved their timeliness of ordering and stock management.

Mobile phones successfully reduced stockouts of family planning commodities; improved the frequency and quality of supervision provided by supervisors at all levels; and improved the timeliness and accuracy of ordering and reporting deliveries to health facilities.

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Minus Global funds Uganda may at last raise own HIV funding

2011-12-01T17:10:00.001+03:00

By EstherNakkazi

Cancelation of the Global Fund funding mayfinally achieve what the Uganda government has for long failed to do -increaseits funding for HIV activities.

Two weeks ago, (22nd November) the Global FundBoard cancelled Round 11 after some donors failed to honor their pledges sothat funding amounted to only half of the anticipated $1.6 billion for thisRound.

In a country were HIV activities are 90 percentdonor funded and Round 11 was particularly meant to fund HIV activities, activistssay this is a wake up call to Ugandans that they should pay for their HIVmedicines.

The Uganda Aids Commission says it has alreadyprepared a position paper to start a levy on some items like beer, but Ugandahas to start treating its people.

Dr. Lydia Mungherera an HIV activist says Uganda has been relying on donor funding for a long time, but now is the time for the government to start treating and investing in its own people.

“During the World Aids Day the message should be definite that our people are going to die. The donors are already sending a straight message which we ought to heed to,” said Dr. Mungherera.

“We have been warning our government, donors are unreliable and that they are jumping out is not new. Government should find the money or prepare to deal with a national disaster,” said Richard Hasunira an advocate for HIV prevention and health rights.

A statement released after the Global Fund Board meeting in Ghana two weeks ago said that with no money for Round 11, the next opportunity for countries to apply for new grants would be during the 2014-2016 period.

IT further said that countries would now apply for grants using a new funding model developed under a different strategy. The GF supports globally programs on malaria, TB and HIV as well as strengthening the national health systems through free grants.

Since the establishment of the Global Fund, Uganda has successfully applied for eight grants from the Global Fund For Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) all totaling US$ 426,763,257.

But in regards to HIV/Aids, Uganda has unsuccessfully submitted requests to the Global Fund several times including rounds 4,5,6,9 and most recently 10 where the country appealed against the TPR decision without success.

Before Round 11 was cancelled, Uganda was busy drafting its application, whose funds were exclusively for HIV. And, the Uganda Aids Commission says they are going ahead to write the proposal, mainly to give ‘clear numbers’ for the funding gap.

Prof Vinand Nantulya, the chairman of the Uganda Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) ScieGirl that they were suspecting that Round 11 would either be delayed or it would not take place.

However, in the meantime Uganda has the necessary resources to buffer interventions in the areas of malaria, Tuberculosis, HIV/Aids and health systems strengthening for the next 3-4 years, said the Uganda Global Fund secretariat.

According to the CCM secretariat, Uganda has over $300 million to intervene in the four disease problem areas but activists and civil society insist it should come up with alternative funding other than donors funding HIV activities.

“I think we may need a supplementary budget but most importantly we need to come up with other funding sources. We cannot expect the donors to do everything for us. I mean Mugabe has done something,” said Dr. Mungherera.

In 1999, Zimbabwe introduced an AIDS levy consisting of a 3 percent tax deducted from salaries of formally employed workers and companies to compensate for the declining donor support.

“It is unfortunate that Round was cancelled but we have to try to mobilize domestic resources,” said Prof. Nantulya also the Chairman of Uganda Aids Commission (UAC). The plan for mobilization of domestic resources is already under way for Uganda. So far, a position paper on alternative avenues of domestic funding has been developed and is under scrutiny by the ministry of Finance.

“We may come up with a levy on items like beer, soda e.t.c. We have examined everything and given the options to the Ministry of Finance,” said Prof Nantulya.

The initiative to impose an AIDS levy on some items could be the only way out for funding Uganda’s HIV/AIDS activities amidst the declining donor support. But it is an initiative for the long term.

With a low tax base and a high burden on the taxpayers, the CCM requires mobilization, education and public support, the only means out of a tight rope.

“It is going to be a long, meticulous process and a public good. But we shall put in place what works,” said Prof. Nantulya. “We hope to explore every possible way to get treatment.”

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When Mama Tlou and Mama Museveni talked zero HIV

2011-11-29T19:25:00.001+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi

When mama Tlou visited Uganda recently, she called on mama Museveni. The two chatted away about children, goats, rain, harvest, the normal chitchat that African women usually engage in.

But the conversation then got serious, as mama Tlou or officially Prof. Sheila Tlou, is the UNAIDS director of the Regional Support Team for East and Southern Africa and Mrs. Janet Kataaha Museveni, is Uganda’s first lady, minister for Karamoja Affairs and Ruhaama county MP.

Mama Tlou appealed to mama Museveni to champion prevention of pediatric HIV infections particularly the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT). One of the key issues to halting the epidemic is leadership but lately it has waned both nationally and internationally.

In Africa leadership made a difference earlier on in Uganda and in Botswana. In South Africa new leadership has given rise to a much expanded and effective AIDS treatment and care program.

So Tlou's mission was to revitalize the leadership in the context of getting to: Zero new HIV infections, Zero discrimination and Zero AIDS-related deaths with special focus to elimination of Mother To Child Transmission.

“We should strive to keep the mothers alive so that we do not create more orphans. We should also enroll them on antiretroviral therapy as soon as possible so that they can safely continue breastfeeding and ensure that the babies are healthy,” Tlou pleaded.

Studies show that new HIV infections among children have already been virtually stopped in high-income countries, with the number of new infections among children falling dramatically due to the effective use and availability of antiretroviral drugs.

Comparable results can be achieved in low- and middle-income countries. Transmission of HIV infection from mother to child can be reduced to less than 5 percent if pregnant women living with HIV have access to health programs involving antiretroviral drugs.

“Mama,” Tlou urged, “Uganda was one of the countries that inspired US even before the advent of ARVs. The leadership is still right here. We need you to champion PMTCT like you have done with the youths.”

Mama Museveni is recognized for her programmes among the youths, which have greatly reduced HIV prevalence and new infections in this group. She founded Uganda Women’s Initiative to Save Orphans, and is the patron for the National Youths Forum plus several youth’s initiatives in HIV and sexual reproductive health. Her campaigns have focused much on Abstinence and Being Faithful.

In Uganda, 150,000 children below 15 years in Uganda are HIV positive, with 98,000 needing treatment but only 24,000 are accessing it. Of the ones on treatment, 38% do not return after being diagnosed or after the first treatment.

Mama Museveni decried complacency calling on government leaders to ‘re-energise their efforts in the prevention response.’ “I think the campaign relaxed and people forgot that HIV is still with us. We need to continue drumming HIV prevention messages, especially regarding PMTCT, so that people wake up,” she said assuring that she was also talking to papa Museveni about it.

“I have been speaking to the president to talk about HIV. He used to and it worked.” “My traditional area was the youths. But now I’m scattered. It has really distracted me from my calling but I know we really have a challenge. I’m willing to come back on board,” she pledged.

Mama Tlou’s visit to Uganda was to engage in high-level advocacy with Government of Uganda leadership, to revitalize the national HIV and AIDS response.

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First Microsoft Innovation Centre opens at Makerere University

2011-11-28T12:06:00.001+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi

A new Microsoft centre designed to promote the development of innovation and growth of the Ugandan software economy has been opened in Makerere University.

The facility, an extension of the global Microsoft Innovation Centre network, is the result of a partnership agreement between United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Microsoft.

The Microsoft Innovation Centre will act as incubator for innovation; technology training and industry skill transfer and actively contribute to economic growth and prosperity in Uganda.

“I am pleased to note that this Centre is yet another deliverable within the UNIDO–Microsoft partnership. I am confident that prospective employers from both, the public and privates sector, will value the contribution that this Centre can make to skill development, particularly for the youth,” said the UNIDO Regional Director for East Africa, David Tommy.

The centre will provide assistance and resources to small and medium sized enterprises to create new and innovative products and services, bring those products to the market and improve their business competitiveness.

It will also provide support to small and medium enterprises and independent software vendors, as well as develop better student collaboration, provide support for new start-up companies, and act as the test laboratory Centre for the development of software projects.

“Offering these opportunities to the local community is an important step to encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship,” said Louis Otieno, General Manager for Microsoft East and Southern Africa.

“We envision that the Centre will boost the local software developer industry, driving increased availability of highly skilled and proficient ICT users as well as developer skills in the country. By fostering innovation, together we can ultimately drive growth in the local and regional economy.”

Microsoft works globally with partners from the public sector, academic institutions and industry to promote innovation. The Microsoft Innovation Centres- more than 90 of them world-wide- are a central component of this innovation drive, which provides effective support for the local software markets.

They do not carry out research themselves but offer a research and development platform for partners working in innovative sectors, helping to foster innovation in their local country, in their region and across the globe.

Uganda’s first Microsoft Innovation Centre will focus on skills development, aiming to educate local students to help improve their professional IT knowledge and gain real project experience before graduating.

“It will provide young entrepreneurs, students, developers and researchers in the local community access to expert information and high-tech equipment for testing and developing the latest technologies built on the Microsoft platform,”said Otieno.

Another key goal of the Centre will be helping developers and IT professionals learn about the latest technologies, stimulating technology innovation and driving the local software economy to boost national competitiveness.

“This is a major milestone for our country particularly for the young people who now have a world-class facility to hone their ICT skills. Uganda has continued to experience significant growth in terms of GDP, investment, employment and tax revenue in the ICT sector and the Microsoft Innovation Centre is definitely going to play a big role in bolstering the continued growth of the sector.” said the Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Ruhakana Rugunda.

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Global Fund Board Cancels Round 11 and Introduces Tough New Rules for Grant Renewals

2011-11-23T16:22:00.001+03:00

GFO Newsletter Issue 167

The Global Fund Board has cancelled Round 11 in light of the Global Fund's financial difficulties. This difficult decision was made at a stressful two-day Board meeting in Accra, Ghana, that ended yesterday evening, 22 November.

The original decision to launch Round 11 in August 2011 was made at a Board meeting in December 2010. At its meeting in May 2011, the Board did not make any changes to its plans for Round 11, having been told by the Secretariat that sufficient funding (an estimated $1.6 billion) would be available for that round. But the estimate of funds available for Round 11 declined to $0.8 billion in September 2011, and then to a negative amount this month. The decline was caused primarily by some donors changing their minds regarding their so-called pledges, and other donors saying that they would delay payment of their pledges.

The Global Fund has long had a policy that the financing of Phase 2 renewals of existing grants has a higher priority than the financing of new grants. As a result, the Board concluded that almost all of the $8.2 billion in revenues that is now projected to arrive by the end of 2013 will be needed for renewals, leaving no money for Round 11.

The next replenishment period will be 2014-2016. Given that there is no money for Round 11, the next opportunity for countries to apply for new grants will be during the 2014-2016 period. They will be able to do so using a new funding model that is called for in the Fund's new Strategy 2012-2016, also approved at this Board meeting.

Some countries have existing grants that will reach the end of Phase 2 well before 2014. Many of those countries have been hoping to be approved for Round 11 grants. Because that will not be possible now, the Board has agreed to put in place a Transitional Funding Mechanism that will provide for continuation of essential prevention, treatment and/or care services by current grantees. Details of this mechanism will likely be announced in the coming weeks.

However, even with the cancellation of Round 11, the Global Fund did not have enough money to pay for the Transitional Funding Mechanism, and for some Round 10 grants, unless further savings could be found. (The Fund stopped signing Round 10 grant agreements about a week ago because of its financial problems.)

The Board decided to find some of the required savings in the following ways:
The one-year Grace Period provision for changes in country income classification will be rescinded. (See explanation in GFO 80.)
The "counterpart financing" and "focus of proposal" requirements that already apply to new grants will also apply to Phase 2 renewals. (See description in GFO 146.)
Instead of Phase 2 financial commitments being made in two tranches (i.e., the first two years, and then the third year), they will be made one year at a time ("1+1+1").

But even more money had to be freed up. The Board discussed two options for this. One was to say that all eligibility rules that apply to new proposals would also apply to Phase 2 renewals. The other was to say that countries are not eligible for Phase 2 renewal of their current grants if they are Group of 20 (G-20) upper-middle-income countries "with less than an extreme disease burden." Following a difficult discussion, the Board chose the second option. This means, for example, that Argentina, Brazil, China, Mexico and Russian Federation will not be eligible for Phase 2 renewal. (South Africa is a G-20 country, but it has an "extreme" disease burden, so it will be allowed through.)

China is, by far, the country that will suffer most from this decision, because China had been expecting to be eligible for some $880 million in grant renewals.

Now that the above measures have been agreed, the Fund will temporarily be able to resume signing Round 10 grant agreements. However, because the signing of new grant agreements can only be done when the required funds have been received by the Global Fund from its donors, and because Phase 2 renewals take priority over new grants, it is always possible that the signing of Round 10 agreements will be put on hold again. It all depends on whether donors deliver their 2011 pledges during 2011, and whether at least some of them deliver their 2012 pledges earlier rather than later in 2012.

The Global Fund Board's decisions concerning Round 11 are contained in the decisions point document for the Accra meeting, which is due to be posted at www.theglobalfund.org/en/board/meetings/twentyfifth.

Family Planning Access Will Deliver for Women In Uganda BY: Dr. Jotham Musinguzi

2011-11-22T16:38:00.001+03:00

BY:Dr. Jotham Musinguzi, Regional Director, Partners in PopulationDevelopment; Jill Sheffield, President, Women Deliver

Next week, leaders from across Africa and around the world will meet at the 2011 International Conference on Family Planning in Dakar, Senegal . This meeting comes at a critical time, as we examine how to navigate a world with increasingly constrained resources and create a future that fosters health and development worldwide. The meeting also occurs during World AIDS Day. Women now comprise the majority of those living with HIV in Africa, and access to male and female condoms to prevent both HIV and unwanted pregnancy is crucial.

The benefits of family planning are plentiful and powerful. Simply put, family planning saves lives. Currently, more than 215 million girls and women who want to avoid or delay pregnancy don’t have access to family planning. Each year, 358,000 women die from pregnancy- and childbirth-related complications. Universal access to family planning could reduce these deaths by up to one-third.

Providing girls, women, and their partners with family planning information and services empowers them to decide the number, timing, and spacing of their children – and whether they want to become pregnant at all. Wanted pregnancies are safer and healthier pregnancies. Access to family planning prevents up to 1 in 3 maternal deaths and 1 in 11 child deaths, and is a critical strategy to reaching Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5.

In Uganda, a woman will have an average of six to seven children in her lifetime. This poses a serious health risk to her and her children, and has financial implications for families. When couples manage their own fertility they can better plan to care for their family by investing their resources in education, health, savings, and business opportunities. This is how we can end the cycle of poverty.

At the national and global levels, family planning is immensely cost-effective: satisfying the unmet need for contraceptives would reduce overall health costs, saving over US$1.5 billion a year. The cost of protecting a couple from unintended pregnancy ranges between US$10-$15 per year, making it one of the most affordable and effective life-saving solutions available.

The Ugandan Minister of Health, Dr. Christine Ondoa, will be present at next week’s meeting. Joined by numerous health and finance ministers from across Africa, Dr. Ondoa will discuss the importance of increased access to family planning in Uganda and region wide. Currently, only 18% of married women in Uganda report contraceptive use. This number can and should be higher.

The good news is that we have family planning solutions; we just need to make them more accessible. Providing variety is critical: voluntary family planning works best when women have a full range of contraceptive options and can choose, access, and afford the method best suited to their needs. We need strategies to reach marginalized and remote communities, and for that reason community health workers need to be supported. And finally, knowledge is power: we need to provide girls, women, and their partners with the information they need to make informed decisions.

The time is now to put words into action. Our world’s population recently reached a staggering seven billion. As we debate how to handle a world of this size in the face of growing global inequity, one thing is clear: we must empower girls and women everywhere. According to the World Bank’s 2012 World Development Report, gender equality is critical to improving development results. Research shows that engaging women’s skills and talents around the world will lead to significant productivity and economic gains. Uganda should continue to lead in efforts to demonstrate this in reality.

In March, Partners for Population and Development and Women Deliver will convene regional experts, policymakers, researchers, and activists in Kampala to share success stories and lessons learned around women’s health. The conversations will include a variety of voices, as every sector has a role in making a difference for girls and women in Uganda and worldwide.

At the International Conference on Family Planning , we will discuss ways we can accelerate action to deliver life-saving results for women and girls, with far-reaching benefits. Reproductive rights, including family planning, are a fundamental stepping stone to gender equality. It is now more important than ever to ensure that all children are wanted, and all citizens have the resources they need to realize their full potential.

The Global Fund troubles

2011-11-22T15:40:00.001+03:00

COMMENTARY: The Most Important and Difficult Global Fund Board Meeting Ever
by Bernard Rivers
Snapshot from 2002: The Global Fund's Framework Document describes the Fund as "simplified," "rapid," "innovative" and "efficient." The goal is to raise billions of dollars and then disburse it rapidly to implementers, telling them, in effect, "OK, get on with the job."
Fast forward to 2011: The Fund's bureaucracy is far from "simplified" and "efficient." The Fund's image has been tarnished by findings of corruption among grant implementers. And the Fund's donors have become alarmed by significant weaknesses in Global Fund systems and among senior Global Fund management - and, of course, have been suffering from their own economic problems. The net result is that some donor pledges have been cut and the delivery of others has been delayed. Money is tight. Round 11 is in danger of being cancelled.

This morning, (Nov 20th) the Global Fund starts the most important and difficult Board meeting it has ever held. The only options for action involve causing pain. And the "no action" option will merely compound the problems.

There are five problems that the board needs to deal with. Some must without question be tackled at this meeting. Others could be deferred; but the sooner they are tackled, the better.

The first problem is that some donor countries have cancelled or delayed their disbursements to the Global Fund, partly because of their own economic problems, but also because of the corruption that the Fund's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has identified and that the Fund's transparency policy has caused to become public. The situation is dire. Donors used to honour 100% of their pledges to the Fund. In 2010 this went down to below 80%. This year, the figure is lower still. The "confirmed pledges" that donors had said they would deliver during 2011 through 2013 have gone down from $9.7 billion to $8.2 billion, as a result of about $1 billion having been "un-confirmed" and about $0.5 billion now projected to arrive after 2013.

As a result, estimated funds available for Round 11 have declined from $1.6 billion (in May 2011), to $0.8 billion (in September), to negative $0.6 billion today. Yes, negative. This means that the current prediction is that there will be no money to pay for Round 11, and possibly not enough to pay for some as-yet unsigned Round 10 grants.

The second problem is that two admirable components of the Global Fund model - an OIG that is determined to root out corruption, and a world-class transparency policy - have produced, when combined, some unanticipated consequences. The OIG discovered fraud among certain grant implementers; the Global Fund posted the findings at its website rather than hiding them in a safe; the press went wild; donors worried about how their taxpayers would feel about funding grants for corrupt implementers; donor pledges were reduced or delayed; and Global Fund growth suddenly stalled.

The third problem is that the OIG got carried away, chasing down not only corruption, but also anything else that could be defined as "loss," and then demanding that the loss be returned to the Fund. These "loss" determinations included, for instance, that a principal recipient (PR) in Swaziland must return over $1 million to the Global Fund because the PR, when asked to document how the money was used, could only produce photocopies of invoices rather than originals. Quick, all of you - raise your hands if you have ever been guilty of this "crime." I have.

Thus far, the OIG has identified $17 million in fraud across all grants that it has audited and investigated. But it has identified almost three times as much - $48 million - in other forms of "loss" that must be refunded, including that $1 million in Swaziland.

This has been bad enough for the PRs who are required to return the money - money which they often no longer have because it was long ago passed to sub-recipients who were responsible for the loss. But, again, there has been an unanticipated consequence. PRs are now nervous to pass money to sub-recipients (SRs), and SRs are nervous to spend the money when they receive it, for fear that some determination of loss will be made, possibly years in the future. This paranoia has led, if not to paralysis, at least to a slowing down and disruption of grant implementation. This represents a huge cost for the people that the grants are supposed to benefit.

The impact of this second problem upon the entire Global Fund system, from Geneva headquarters to sub-sub-recipients, is roughly what the impact would be upon your family or mine if government officials, anxious to ensure that we don't mistreat our children or engage in tax-evasion, placed video cameras in every room of our homes, and issued press releases from time to time based on the worst things that those cameras revealed. Not many families would survive the tensions that this would engender.

The Fund has rightly recognised, after a very difficult year, that it must identify, mitigate and manage risk. But it hasn't done enough thinking about the way in which its risk management policies are, at least at present, slowing down the delivery of services and thus the saving of lives.

The fourth problem is that John Parsons, the Inspector General, head of the OIG, has shown, on a number of occasions over a prolonged period of time, a remarkable ability to shoot himself - and therefore the Fund - in the foot. As discussed in Article 4, below, UNDP, the largest implementer of Global Fund grants, is now essentially refusing to work with him; and many other PRs have also expressed serious criticisms. (See the GFO Commentary "Auditing the Auditor," and subsequent letters to the editor here and here.) The Global Fund Board, to whom John Parsons reports, will discuss this evening the year-end evaluation of his work performance that it has just completed.

The fifth problem is that the Fund has some serious management weaknesses at the senior level. This has led to some unpleasant in-fighting, with allegations floating around that range from the worrying to the ridiculous. A year ago, the Board renewed the employment contract of Michel Kazatchkine, the Executive Director, giving him a final three-year term (following his initial term of four years). But, as with the Inspector General, the Board specified that Kazatchkine must undergo an annual evaluation. The first such evaluation has just been completed, and the findings will be discussed by the Board this evening. (Both this evaluation and that of John Parsons were "360 degree reviews" conducted by external professionals under the guidance of the Chair and Vice-Chair. Structured feedback was obtained from dozens of people in each case.)

So: The Fund's growth has stalled. Over the past ten years, Global Fund financing has contributed to the saving of 7.7 million lives. Every one percent increase or reduction in funding or effectiveness will lead to multiple further lives saved or not saved. The Board's decisions today and tomorrow will be crucial; they will ultimately determine the up or down curve in money, effectiveness and lives.

Bernard Rivers (bernard.rivers@aidspan.org) is Executive Director of Aidspan and Editor of GFO.

Food Security; African farmers need to increase fertilizer use

2011-10-28T02:48:00.000+03:00

Africa is facing persistently high food prices and low farm yields, which are weakening its food security and putting the region’s fragile stability and economic growth at risk, according to a group of leading international scientists meeting in Kigali this week.

There is also a polarized debate over the use of organic and inorganic practices to boost farm yields, which is slowing widespread farmer adoption of approaches that could radically transform Africa’s food security situation.

“The ideological divide over approaches to farm production are a distraction from the actions needed to address food security now and ensure it in the future,” said Nteranya Sanginga, director general designate of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

Over 200 leading African and international scientists met at the first conference of the Consortium for Improving Agriculture Based Livelihoods in Central Africa (CIALCA) in Kigali, Rwanda, this week.

Participants identified several practical solutions that would help move the region towards food security like scaling up farmer adoption of new technologies that improve degraded soils through more efficient use of inorganic fertilizers, new higher-yielding varieties of staple crops that improve nutrition, and mixed farming and intercropping approaches for crops like banana, coffee, and grain legumes.

“For many, fertilizer is a dirty word,” said Bernard Vanlauwe, acting director of the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility research area at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). “We have to focus on approaches that improve livelihoods.”

Fertilizer use in Africa is by far the lowest in the world. On average, African farmers apply about 9 kg per hectare of fertilizer compared to 86 kg per hectare in Latin America and 142 kg per hectare in Southeast Asia.

“African agriculture is already organic. It’s not working,” said Sanginga. “We need to focus on practical things that help, not ideology.”

Agricultural researchers have found ways to dramatically reduce fertilizer use – while boosting crop yields. These include site-specific recommendations, partly based on detailed satellite images of African soils, and a technique known as micro-dosing, which involves the application of small, affordable quantities of fertilizer during a crop’s growing period.

New research by CIALCA scientists has shown that intercropping banana and coffee can benefit both the environment and farmers’ incomes compared to growing each crop separately.

Banana—a food staple for millions across the region—provides a shaded canopy for coffee plants, which results in higher yields, less soil erosion, and more money for the farmers. Scientists also noted that this approach is ‘climate smart’ because the shade could buffer heat-sensitive coffee crops against the predicted impacts of climate change.

Improved climbing bean varieties being grown by thousands of farmers in the region have been particularly well-received, producing three times the yield of ordinary bush beans.

On tightly packed, small farms, the new bean varieties make valuable use of limited space by growing upwards instead of sprawling outwards. They also improve soil fertility through nitrogen fixation, and when grown in rotation with maize – another crucial African staple - maize yields have increased substantially, and the need for fertilizer reduced.

“It does not have to be a choice between organic or inorganic; both approaches can work well together at different stages in agricultural development,” said Vanlauwe.

Climate change, rapid population growth, and intense land pressure are major challenges for Africa but it is high time it focused on practical, evidence-based solutions that will forever end the cycle of hunger, poverty and civil conflict,” said Sanginga.

African commitments on maternal health

2011-10-18T20:35:00.001+03:00

News Release, October 18 - The legislative arm of the African Union, the Pan African Parliament (PAP), has adopted a broad resolution urging speakers of Parliament in the continent to prioritize the implementation of maternal, newborn and child health programs.

The latest development marks a significant milestone in accelerating progress in Africa towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5 on child and maternal health, respectively.

In the resolution passed during the 5^th session of the 2^nd Pan African Parliament held on 3^rd-14^th October, in Midrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, PAP members reiterated that maternal, newborn and child health is critical to overall human and social development in Africa.

It also calls for high-level parliamentary support to accelerate implementation of a plan on policy and budget support towards maternal, newborn and child health, agreed by Chairs of Finance and Budget committees of national parliaments in October 2010.

In July 2010, the African Union heads of states and governments made far-reaching commitments towards maternal and infant health at a high-level summit held in Kampala, Uganda.

The latest PAP resolution combines integrated implementation of African maternal, newborn and child frameworks with the United Nations Secretary-General`s Global Strategy for Women and Children’s Health, launched in 2010 to accelerate progress toward the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

According to the United Nations, 7.6 million children under the age of five and approximately 350,000 women die each year of pregnancy-related causes, most of which are preventable.

Underlining the need for accelerated global action, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said: “We must, therefore, do more for the newborn who succumbs to infection for want of a simple injection, and for the young boy who will never reach his full potential because of malnutrition.”

Health experts and campaigners said parliaments have a significant role to play in reinvigorating policy and budgetary support towards maternal and infant health in Africa.

Commending the Pan African Parliament Resolution, Rotimi Sankore, Secretary of the Africa Public Health Parliamentary Network, stated: “We welcome this landmark resolution by the Pan African Parliament, which is a significant step towards African parliamentary action to help end the tragic annual loss of an estimated 4.2 million lives of African women and children. The resolution strongly complements the African Union Commission-led Campaign for Accelerated Reduction of Maternal, Newborn and Child Mortality in Africa (CARMMA), launched in 31 countries over the last two years.”

Dr. Carole Presern, Director of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn &Child Health, underlined that “This PAP resolution demonstrates the vital and positive contribution that parliaments globally can make to saving and improving the lives of women and children, and in particular the commitment of African parliamentarians to their constituents”.

With this resolution, five senior members from each of the 54 African Union member states have pledged to work alongside speakers and relevant committees of national parliaments, to implement the PAP resolution on maternal, newborn and child health.

This latest resolution by the Pan African Parliament will be presented to speakers of African parliaments during their second annual conference to be held on 17^th to 18^th October, 2011.

A partnership involving the Africa Public Health Parliamentary Network, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the global Partnership on Maternal Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) has worked closely with the Pan African Parliament in the lead-up to this resolution.

African commitments to the UN Secretary-General's Global Strategy for Women and Children's Health

Benin will increase the national budget dedicated to health to 10% by 2015 with a particular focus on women, children, adolescents and HIV; introduce a policy to ensure universal free access to emergency obstetric care; ensure access to the full package of reproductive health interventions by 2018; and increase the use of contraception from 6.2% to 15%. Benin will also step up efforts to address HIV/AIDS through providing ARVs to 90% of HIV+ pregnant women; ensuring that 90% of health centres offer PMTCT services; and enacting measures against stigma and discrimination. Benin will develop new policies on adolescent sexual health; pass a law against the trafficking of children, and implement new legislation on gender equality.

Burkina Faso has met the 15% target for health spending, and commits to maintain spending at this level. Burkina Faso will also develop and implement a plan for human resources for health and construct a new public and private school for midwives by 2015. This is in addition to other initiatives being pursued which will also impact on women’s and children’s health, including free schooling for all primary school girls by 2015, and measures to enforce the laws against early and forced marriage, and female genital mutilation.

Burundi commits to increase the allocation to health sector from 8% in 2011 to 15% in 2015, with a focus on women and children’s health; increase the number of midwives from 39 in 2010 to 250, and the number of training schools for midwives from 1 in 2011 to 4 in 2015; increase the percentage of births attended by a skilled birth attendant from 60% in 2010 to 85% in 2015. Burundi also commits to increase contraception prevalence from 18.9% in 2010 to 30%; PMTCT service coverage from 15% in 2010 to 85% with a focus on integration with reproductive health; and reduce percentage of underweight children under-five from 29% to 21% by 2015.

Cameroon commits to implement and expand the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA), re-establish midwifery training to train 200 midwives a year, and pilot a performance-based financing and a voucher system in order to promote access to maternal and child care services. Cameroon further commits to increase the contraception prevalence from 14% to 38%; the proportion of HIV+ pregnant women access to antiretrovirals from 57% to 75%; and the vaccine coverage from 84% to 93%. Cameroon will increase to 60% the proportion of health facilities offering integrated services; increase to 50% the proportion of women with access to Emergency Obstetric Care (EmOC) services; offer free malaria care to children under 5; ensure free availability of mosquito-treated nets to every family; increase funding to paediatric HIV/AIDS; strengthen health information systems management and integrated disease surveillance.

Chad commits to increase health sector spending to 15%; provide free emergency care for women and children; provide free HIV testing and ARVs; allocate of US$10million per year for implementation of the national roadmap for accelerating reduction in MNC mortality; strengthen human resources for health by training 40 midwives a year for the next 4 years, including creating a school of midwifery and constructing a national referral hospital for women and children with 250 beds; and deploying health workers at health centres to ensure delivery of a minimum package of services. Chad also commits to pass a national human resources for health policy; increase contraception prevalence to 15%; ensure 50% of the births are assisted by a skilled birth attendant; and increase coverage of PMTCT from 7% to 80%, and pediatric HIV coverage from 9% to 80%.

Central African Republic commits to increase health sector spending from 9.7% to 15%, with 30% of the health budget focused on women and children’s health; ensure emergency obstetric care and prevention of PMTCT in at least 50% of health facilities; and ensure the number of births assisted by skilled personnel increase from 44% to 85% by 2015. CAR will also create at least 500 village centers for family planning to contribute towards a target of increase contraception prevalence from 8.6% to 15%; increase vaccination coverage to 90%; and ensure integration of childhood illnesses including pediatric HIV/AIDS in 75% of the health facilities.

Comoros commits to increase health sector spending to 14% of budget by 2014; ensure universal coverage for PMTCT by 2015; reduce underweight children from 25% to 10%; increase contraception prevalence rate from 13% to 20%; and the births that take place in health facilities from 75% to 85%. Comoros will also accelerate the implementation existing national policies including the national plan for reproductive health commodity security, the strategic plan for human resources for health, and the roadmap for accelerating reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality.

Congo commits to reducing maternal mortality and morbidity by 20% by 2015 including obstetric fistula, by introducing free obstetric care, including free access to caesarean sections. Congo will also establish a new observatory to investigate deaths linked to pregnancy; and will support women’s empowerment by passing a law to ensure equal representation of Congolese women in political, elected and administrative positions.

Côte d'Ivoire commits to ensure the provision of free health services for all pregnant women during delivery, including free caesarian-sections, for women affected by obstetric fistula, and for children under 5. Côte d'Ivoire also commits to rehabilitate maternity centres, provide insecticide-treated mosquito nets for women and children under 5; to strengthen the integrated management of childhood illnesses programmes; and to integrate HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health, and community involvement in health management, including training health workers to ensure the provision of family planning at the community level.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will develop a national health policy aimed to strengthen health systems, and will allocate more funds from the Highly Indebted Poor Country program to the health sector. DRC will increase the proportion of deliveries assisted by a skilled birth attendant to 80%, and increase emergency obstetric care and the use of contraception. The government will increase to 70% the number of children under 12 months who are fully immunized; ensure that up to 80% of children under 5 and pregnant women use ITNs; and provide AVRs to 20,000 more people living with HIV/AIDS.

Djibouti commits to increase the health budget from 14% to 15%. In terms of service delivery, the Government will ensure that all pregnant women will have access to skilled personnel during childbirth. For this purpose, the Government will increase the number of trained midwives and nurses and will increase access to emergency obstetric care services nationally to 80%. A package of integrated emergency obstetric and newborn care and reproductive health will also be delivered in health services. This will be achieved by ensuring that all health centers are upgraded to deliver a package of emergency obstetric and newborn care and reproductive health services by upgrading them and ensuring that appropriate staff are posted and maintained in those centers. Contraceptive prevalence will be increased to 70%. The mobile health services will be extended to cover all areas of the country and will adopt a mix of outreach services, home visits and community based interventions. The government commits to implement Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses in all health centers. Vaccine coverage will be 100%. Malnutrition will be addressed through a comprehensive multi-sectoral package in order to reduce the prevalence of stunting to 20% and that of wasting to 10%. Djibouti commits to decrease the HIV/AIDS prevalence to 1.8% in 2015 and to ensure that all pregnant HIV-positive women receive antiretrovirals.

Ethiopia will increase the number of midwives from 2050 to 8635; increase the proportion of births attended by a skilled professional from 18% to 60%; and provide emergency obstetric care to all women at all health centres and hospitals. Ethiopia will also increase the proportion of children immunized against measles to 90%, and provide access to prevention, care and support and treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it, by 2015. As a result, the government expects a decrease in the maternal mortality ratio from 590 to 267, and under-five morality from 101 to 68 (per 100,000) by 2015.

The Gambia commits to increase the health budget to 15% of the national budget by the year 2015; and to implement its existing free maternal and child health care policy, ensuring universal coverage of high quality emergency maternal, neonatal and child health services. Special attention will be accorded to rural and hard-to-reach areas. Efforts will be intensified to increase the proportion of births attended by skilled professionals to 64.5%, ensure reproductive health commodities security, scale up free Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) services to all reproductive health clinics and ensure universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services, including social protection for women, orphans and vulnerable children. Furthermore, The Gambia will continue to maintain the high immunization coverage for all antigens at 80% and above at regional levels, and 90% and above at national levels, while seeking to increase access of all children, particularly in the most vulnerable communities, to high impact and cost-effective interventions that address the main killers of children under five.

Ghana will increase its funding for health to at least 15% of the national budget by 2015. Ghana will also strengthen its free maternal health care policy, ensure 95% of pregnant women are reached with comprehensive PMTCT service and ensure security for family planning commodities. Ghana will further improve child health by increasing the proportion of fully immunized children to 85% and the proportion of children under-five and pregnant women sleeping under insecticide-treated nets to 85%.

Guinea commits to establish a budget line for reproductive health commodities; ensure access to free prenatal and obstetric care, both basic and emergency; ensure provision of newborn care in 2 national hospitals, 7 regional hospitals, 26 district hospitals, and 5 municipality medical centres; and introduce curriculum on integrated prevention and care of new born and childhood illnesses in health training institutes. Guinea also commits to secure 10 life-saving essential medications in at least 36 facilities providing basic obstetric care and 9 structures with comprehensive obstetric care by 2012; ensure at least three contraception methods in all the 406 centres of health in the public sector by December 2012; and include PMTCT in 150 health facilities.

Guinea-Bissau commits to increase financial spending from 10% to 14% by 2015 and to implement the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA); to ensure accessible comprehensive emergency obstetric and neonatal care in all regions, and to provide around-the-clock referrals. Guinea-Bissau also commits to ensure that each health center has access to basic Emergency Obstetric Care (EmOC), including strengthening the technical capacity of 95% of the EmOC facilities; increasing the proportion of women giving birth in health facilities from 35% to 60%; ensuring that 75% of the pregnant women are covered by health mutual funds, and that 90% of the most vulnerable are covered by state funds. In addition, Guinea-Bissau also commits to reduce the unmet need for family planning to 10% and to increase contraceptive prevalence from 10% to 20%; to increase pre-natal consultations to 70%, postnatal consultations to 30%, and to reduce the proportion of underweight children from 24% to 10%; and to integrate Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission in 90% of the maternity care centers.

Kenya will recruit and deploy an additional 20,000 primary care health workers; establish and put into operation 210 primary health facility centres of excellence to provide maternal and child health services to an additional 1.5 million women and 1.5 million children; and will expand community health care, and decentralize resources.

The Government of Lesotho is committed to meeting the Abuja Declaration Target of 15% expenditure for health, compared to the current 14% expenditure. The Government abolished user fees for all the health services at Health Centre level, while it has standardized user fees at hospital-level. The country has developed the National Health Sector Policy and its Strategic Plan which puts women and children at the centre. The National Reproductive Health Policy and its Strategic Plan also focus on women and children. These documents have been disseminated and their implementation is closely monitored. The Reproductive Health Commodity Security Strategy is in place and ensures that 90% of the women and men in the reproductive age group have access to commodities. The Lesotho Expanded Programme on Immunization Policy has been disseminated in 2010, focusing on under-five children. The Infant and Young Child Feeding Policy focuses on nutrition of children.

Liberia will increase health spending from 4% to 10% of the national budget and will ensure that by 2015 there are double the number of midwives trained and deployed than were in the health sector in 2006. Liberia will provide free universal access to health services including family planning and increasing the proportion of health care clinics providing emergency obstetric care services from 33% to 50%. Liberia will increase the proportion of immunized children to 80%, and address social determinants of ill-health through increasing girl’s education, and the mainstreaming of gender issues in national development.

By 2015, Madagascar commits to increase health spending to at least 12%; ensure universal coverage for emergency obstetric care in all public health facilities; increase births assisted by skilled attendants from 44% to 75%; and double from 35% the percentage of births in health facilities. Madagascar will also address teenage pregnancy by making 50% of primary health care facilities youth-friendly; reduce from 19% to 9.5% the unmet need of contraception by strengthening commodity security; increase tetanus vaccination for pregnant women from 57% to 80%; and institute maternal death audits.

Malawi will strengthen human resources for health, including accelerating training and recruitment of health professionals to fill all available positions in the health sector; expand infrastructures for maternal, newborn and child health; increase basic emergency obstetric and neonatal care coverage to reach World Health Organization standards; and provide free care through partnerships with private institutions.

Mali commits to create a free medical assistance fund by 2015 and to reinforce existing solidarity and mutual funds for health, and extend the coverage of a minimum package of health interventions. Mali will implement a national strategic plan for improving the reproductive health of adolescents; and will strengthen emergency obstetric care, introducing free caesarean and fistula services, also by 2015. Mali will promote improvements in child health through free vitamin A supplements, and increased screening for and management of malnutrition, and through the extension of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness Programme. Mali will also distribute free insecticide-treated bed-nets to women making second ante-natal visits, and remove taxes on other ITNs.

Mauritania commits to increasing expenditure on health to 15% by 2015, and including a budget line on reproductive health commodities with a focus on contraceptives; to increase contraception prevalence from 9% to 15%, constructing 3 more schools of public health, increasing access to Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care in all regional and national hospitals; to increase the proportion of births assisted by skilled personnel from 61% to 75%; and increasing the proportion of health centers offering PMTCT services to 75%. Mauritania further commits to increase proportion of vaccinated children, institute in all districts a program of integrated management of childhood illnesses, and improve the management of human resources including providing incentives for staff to work in isolated areas.

Mozambique commits to increase the percentage of children immunized aged under 1, from 69 to 90 percent by 2012 and to increase the number of HIV+ children receiving ARTs from 11, 900 to 31,000 by 2012. Mozambique will also increase contraceptive prevalence from 24 to 34 % by 2015 and will increase institutional deliveries from a level of 49% to 66% by 2015. Mozambique also commits to establish a centre for the treatment of obstetric fistula in each province by 2015.

Niger commits to increase health spending from 8.1% to 15% by 2015, with free care for maternal and child heath, including obstetric complications management and family planning. Niger will train 1000 providers on handling adolescent reproductive health issues, and to address domestic violence and female genital mutilation (FGM). Niger will reduce the fertility rate from 3.3% to 2.5% through training 1500 providers of family planning, and creating 2120 new contraception distribution sites. Niger will further equip 2700 health centres to support reproductive health and HIV/AIDS education, and ensure that at least 60% of births are attended by a skilled professional. Niger will additionally introduce new policies that support the health of women and children, including legislation to make the legal age of marriage 18 years and to improve female literacy from 28.9% in 2002 to 88% in 2013.

Nigeria endorses the Secretary General’s Strategy on women’s and children’s health, and affirms that the initiatives is in full alignment to our existing country-led efforts through the National Health Plan and strategies targeted for implementation for the period 2010 – 2015, with a focus on the MDGs in the first instance and the national Vision 20 – 2020. In this regard, Nigeria is committed to fully funding its health program at $31.63 per capita through increasing budgetary allocation to as much as 15% from an average of 5% by the Federal, States and Local Government Areas by 2015. This will include financing from the proposed 2% of the Consolidated Federal Revenue Capital to be provided in the National Health Bill targeted at pro-poor women’s and children’s health services. Nigeria will work towards the integration of services for maternal, newborn and child Health, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as well as strengthening Health Management Information Systems. To reinforce the 2488 Midwives recently deployed to local health facilities nationwide, Nigeria will introduce a policy to increase the number of core services providers including Community Health Extension Workers and midwives, with a focus on deploying more skilled health staff in rural areas.

Rwanda commits to increasing heath sector spending from 10.9% to 15% by 2012; reducing maternal mortality from 750 per 100,000 live births to 268 per 100,000 live births by 2015 and to halve neonatal mortality among women who deliver in a health facility by training five times more midwives (increasing the ratio from 1/100,000 to 1/20,000). Rwanda will reduce the proportion of children with chronic malnutrition (stunting) from 45% to 24.5% through promoting good nutrition practices, and will increase the proportion of health facilities with electricity and water to 100%.

Sao Tome and Principe commits to increase the percentage of the general budget for health from 10% to 15% in 2012; increase the ratio of births attended by a qualified health personnel from 87.5% to 95%; reduce the percentage of inadequate family planning service delivery from 37% to 15%; increase the geographic coverage of PMTCT services from 23% to 95%; increase the percentage of pregnant women receiving ARVs from prenatal centres from 29% to 95%; and increase the prevalence of contraception from 33.7% to 50%.

Senegal commits to increasing its national health spending from 10% of the budget currently to 15% by 2015. It also proposes to increase the budget allocated to MNCH by 50% by 2015. The country commits to improving coordination of MNCH initiatives by creating a national Directorate for MNCH, reinstating the national committee in charge of the implementation of the multi-sectoral roadmap for the reduction of maternal and child mortality and to accelerate the dissemination and implementation of national strategies targeting a reduction of maternal mortality. Through these efforts the government hopes to offer a full range of high impact MNCH interventions in 90% of health centers, increase the proportion of assisted deliveries from 51% to 80% by increasing recruitment of state midwives and nurses and increasing contraceptive prevalence rate from 10% to 45%, among others.

Sierra Leone will increase access to health facilities by pregnant women, newborns and children under five by 40% through the removal of user fees, effective from April 27 2010. Sierra Leone will also develop a Health Compact to align development partners around a single country-led national health strategy and will ensure that all teachers engage in continuous professional development in health.

The Republic of South Sudan commits to increase the percentage of government budget allocation to the Ministry of Health from 4.2% to 10% by 2015; to increase the proportion of women delivering with skilled birth attendants from 10%- 45%, through the construction of 160 Basic Emergency Obstetric Care facilities by 2015 and training of 1,000 enrolled/registered midwives by 2015; and to establish 6 accredited midwifery schools or training institutions/colleges; increase the contraceptive prevalence rate from 3.7% to 20%, and increase the percentage of health facilities without stock-out of essential drugs from 40% to 100%. South Sudan also commits to reduce the prevalence of underweight among children under five from 30% to 20%; increase the percentage of fully-immunized children from 1.8% to 50%; and increase the percentage of under-fives sleeping under bed nets from 25% to 70%. Finally, South Sudan will develop and implement a range of national policies that will strengthen its response to women and children's health, including policies on national family planning, on provision of free reproductive health services, especially Emergency Obstetric care services, on decentralization of budgeting, planning, management of health services, and on adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Sudan commits to increase the total health sector expenditure from 6.2% in 2008 to 15% by 2015. Sudan commits to guarantee immediately free universal access to Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services including Immunization, Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illnesses (IMNCI), Nutrition, Antenatal Care (ANC), delivery care, post-natal care, and child spacing services to target all women and children. Sudan also commits to train and employ at least 4,600 midwives focusing on states with the highest maternal mortality ratios and the lowest proportion of births attended by trained personnel. This will increase the percentage of births attended by trained personnel from 72.5% to 90%, increase quality universal access to Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care, and advocate for the elimination of harmful traditional practices like early marriage and Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting.

Tanzania will increase health sector spending from 12% to 15% of the national budget by 2015. Tanzania will increase the annual enrollment in health training institutions from 5000 to 10,000, and the graduate output from health training institutions from 3,000 to 7,000; simultaneously improving recruitment, deployment and retention through new and innovative schemes for performance related pay focusing on maternal and child health services. Tanzania will reinforce the implementation of the policy for provision of free reproductive health services and expand pre-payment schemes, increase the contraceptive prevalence rate from 28% to 60%; expand coverage of health facilities; and provide basic and comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn care. Tanzania will improve referral and communication systems, including radio call communications and mobile technology and will introduce new, innovative, low cost ambulances. Tanzania will increase the proportion of Children fully immunized from 86% to 95%, extend PMTCT to all RMNCH services; and secure 80% coverage of long lasting insecticide treated nets for children under five and pregnant women. Tanzania will aim to increase the proportion of children who are exclusively breast fed from 41% to 80%.

Togo commits to ensure 95% coverage of vaccination for children under 5, and to implement the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA).

Uganda commits to ensure that comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmONC) services in hospitals increase from 70% to 100% and in health centers from 17% to 50%; and to ensure that basic EmONC services are available in all health centers; and will ensure that skilled providers are available in hard to reach/hard to serve areas. Uganda also commits to reduce the unmet need for family planning from 40% to 20%; increase focused Antenatal Care from 42% to 75%, with special emphasis on Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) and treatment of HIV; and ensure that at least 80% of under 5 children with diarrhea, pneumonia or malaria have access to treatment; to access to oral rehydration salts and Zinc within 24 hours, to improve immunization coverage to 85%, and to introduce pneumococcal and human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccines.

Zambia commits to: increase national budgetary expenditure on health from 11% to 15% by 2015 with a focus on women and children’s health; and to strengthen access to family planning - increasing contraceptive prevalence from 33% to 58% in order to reduce unwanted pregnancies and abortions, especially among adolescent girls. Zambia will scale-up implementation of integrated community case management of common diseases for women and children, to bring health services closer to families and communities to ensure prompt care and treatment.

Zimbabwe will increase health spending to 15% of the health budget or $20 per capita and establish a maternal, newborn and child survival fund by 2011 using the same approach as the successful Education Transition Fund (ETF) led by the Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture and administered by UNICEF. The fund has raised US$50 million in the first year for the ministry’s priorities, and contributed to donor coordination and harmonization. Zimbabwe will abolish user fees for health services for pregnant women and for children under the age of 5 years by the end of 2011; and will strengthen the Maternal and Newborn Mortality audit system - piloting a new system in two provinces in 2011 before expanding nationwide in 2012.

END.

Uganda and US partner to develop new, low-cost prevention and treatment strategies

2011-10-11T17:41:00.000+03:00

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oct. 11, 2011

FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER BREAKS GROUND FOR FIRST COLLABORATIVE, COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER IN

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Innovative collaboration between researchers in Kampala and Seattle furthers specialized study and effective treatment of infection-related cancers

SEATTLE and KAMPALA, Uganda – A pioneering international collaboration forged by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash., USA, together with the Uganda Cancer Institute in Kampala, Uganda, has broken ground for the future construction of a state-of-the-art cancer training and outpatient treatment facility in Kampala. The building will be the first comprehensive cancer center jointly constructed by U.S. and African cancer institutions in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Through the collaboration between the Hutchinson Center and the Uganda Cancer Institute, we hope to develop new, low-cost prevention and treatment strategies that will not only stem the rising burden of cancer in sub-Saharan Africa but will benefit millions of people worldwide,” said Lawrence Corey, M.D., president and director of the Hutchinson Center.

Once completed, the Uganda Cancer Institute/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Clinic and Training Institute will extend patient access to cancer diagnosis and research-based treatment while furthering study on the links between infectious diseases, such as HIV and Epstein-Barr virus, and cancers such as Kaposi sarcoma and the most common life-threatening malignancy among Ugandan children, Burkitt lymphoma.

Ugandan Vice President Edward Ssekandi led the Oct. 4 groundbreaking ceremony and was joined by Harold Varmus, M.D., Ph.D., Nobel laureate and director of the U.S. National Cancer Institute, Ugandan Minister of Health Christine Ondoa and other government officials, international dignitaries, global health experts and community leaders.

“We are gathered here today to celebrate a great example of a partnership between two institutions dedicated to saving lives – the Uganda Cancer Institute in Uganda and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington. I offer my congratulations to the two institutions who have come together, dedicated to improving the health and well being of people in Uganda and worldwide,” Ssekandi said.

“Cancer is being increasingly recognized as an enormously important global health problem that kills more people worldwide than HIV, tuberculosis and malaria combined, and nearly two-thirds of these deaths are in the developing world,” Corey said. “Sub-Saharan Africa has among the highest cancer rates in the world, and these rates appear to be increasing in association with the HIV epidemic. Through the collaboration between the Hutchinson Center and the Uganda Cancer Institute, we hope to develop new, low-cost prevention and treatment strategies that will not only stem the rising burden of cancer in sub-Saharan Africa but will benefit millions of people worldwide.”

Nearly 25 percent of cancers cases worldwide are infection related, and 50 percent of these cancer deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, explained Corey Casper, M.D., M.P.H., an associate member of the Hutchinson Center’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division and co-scientific director of the UCI/Hutchinson Center Cancer Alliance, which is the name of the collaboration between the Hutchinson Center and the Uganda Cancer Institute. “Our commitment in Uganda is to increase survival rates for common infection-caused cancers from 10 percent to 90 percent over the next three years while pursuing a unique research opportunity to find new ways to prevent infection-associated cancers, which will benefit cancer patients both in resource-poor and resource-rich regions,” he said.

The planned new facility that will enable these lifesaving advances will be three stories and total approximately 5,600 square feet. The building will include adult and pediatric cancer care clinics, including exam rooms, procedure suites, pharmacies and an infusion suite. It also will be equipped with specialized diagnostic laboratories. The facility is funded in part by two grants totaling $1.4 million from the United States Agency for International Development’s American Schools and Hospitals Abroad program and a $900,000 investment from the Hutchinson Center.

The Hutchinson Center’s relationship with the Uganda Cancer Institute dates back to 2004 and the UCI/Hutchinson Center Cancer Alliance was established formally in 2008. The program builds on the Hutchinson Center’s innovative research approach, which is to draw data from a setting where the disease burden is exceptionally high, while reinforcing the organization’s commitment to reduce cancer-related suffering and death.

In 2008, Uganda had just one oncologist who treated more than 10,000 patients annually. In response, the Hutchinson Center spearheaded an extensive medical training program that has increased the number of practicing oncologists in Uganda fivefold.

More than 1.2 million Ugandans are living with HIV/AIDS. According to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, people infected with HIV are several thousand times more likely than uninfected people to be diagnosed with Kaposi sarcoma and at least 70 times more likely to be diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Kaposi sarcoma is the most common cancer in adult Ugandan men; human herpesvirus 8, also a cause of Kaposi sarcoma, is the most common cancer-related infection in women. According to UCI/Hutchinson Center Cancer Alliance researchers, nearly 75 percent of these cases can be treated for less than $800.

Ugandan children are also vulnerable to infection-related malignancies that are not HIV-associated. “Cancer, especially childhood cancer, is a growing threat to Uganda’s next generation and must be addressed with equal vigor as HIV/AIDS,” stated Jackson Orem, M.D., director of the Uganda Cancer Institute and co-scientific director of the UCI/Hutchinson Center Cancer Alliance.

Burkitt lymphoma, both potentially fatal and disfiguring, is the most common cancer diagnosis among Ugandan children and is caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. Burkitt lymphoma has particular connections with Uganda; it first was identified there in 1958 by Sir Denis Burkitt. The first use of combination chemotherapy in the world was used to treat Burkitt lymphoma and initiated by Uganda Cancer Institute physicians in conjunction with the National Cancer Institute at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. This approach is now the most widely utilized therapy for cancer.

Each year in Uganda, 600 new Burkitt cases present for medical attention and the average age at diagnosis is 5. Currently, the five-year survival rate is less than 40 percent, but it is estimated that 85 percent of these children could be cured for less than $600 a case.

When completed, the Uganda Cancer Institute/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Clinic and Training Institute will be an incubator of research that will dramatically alter the course of cancer diagnosis, treatment and care. The building will serve as a state-of-the-art venue for gathering data and conducting studies to further the prevention and treatment of cancer-related infectious diseases, with far-reaching implications for global health.

Boosting patient access to diagnostic technology and significantly increasing the number of patients who can be treated, the new facility will enhance integration of HIV treatment into cancer care and enable Hutchinson Center experts to devise a model of effective cancer care that could be deployed in other resource-limited areas.

To date, the Hutchinson Center has trained more than 100 individuals in both the United States and Uganda. Of the more than 70 Ugandan trainees, interns and fellows, 15 have traveled to Seattle to study at the Hutchinson Center. Twelve of the 25 Americans have trained in Uganda. The program offers training in a variety of disciplines —hematology, oncology, epidemiology, global health and HIV-associated malignancies, among others. Trainees include postgraduate and postdoctorate fellows, laboratory technicians, medical officers, study nurses and administrators.

Multimedia press kit: For more information, including broadcast-quality video B-roll, high-resolution photos of medical staff and patients, building renderings and researcher biographies, please visithttp://www.fhcrc.org/about/ne/news/2011/10/11/uganda_groundbreaking_release.html

# # #

At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, our interdisciplinary teams of world-renowned scientists and humanitarians work together to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Our researchers, including three Nobel laureates, bring a relentless pursuit and passion for health, knowledge and hope to their work and to the world. For more information, please visit fhcrc.org.

CONTACT:

Dean Forbes, Media Relations Manager
dforbes@fhcrc.org
206-667-2896 (desk) or 206-605-0311 (cell)

Dean Forbes

Media Relations Manager

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

206-667-2896 - office

206-605-0311- mobile

Information for Journalists: http://www.fhcrc.org/journalists

Three stories of my life' : Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T19:41:00.000+03:00

Three stories of my life': Steve Jobs

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 10/06/2011 1:00 PM

A | A | A |

Steve Jobs (apple.com)

“Three Apples changed the world:

The first seduced Eve

The second fell on Newton

And the third one was offered to the world half bitten by him. RIP Steve Jobs ...”

This was among the top comments on a Youtube video on Thursday, displaying Jobs' speech at Stanford University's 114th Commencement on June 12, 2005. Regarded as one of Jobs' most inspiring speeches, the video has been viewed more than 6 million times and has drawn around 10,000 comments, mostly after news of his death at the age of 56 spread in the media.

The speech, written by Jobs himself, is regarded as some of his best work. In it, Jobs summarized his life into “three stories” and urged others to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life's setbacks.

Here is a transcript of the address:

You've got to find what you love, says Jobs
(Stanford Report, June 14, 2005)

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first six months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course."

My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK.

It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4,000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our board of directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down -- that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday, not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand, not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: It was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Steve Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011)

A tribute to Steve Jobs; in his words

2011-10-06T05:43:00.000+03:00

Steve Jobs was many things — an innovator and visionary, an oracle of consumer behavior, and an insanely great showman. He was also a masterful orator, known for his skill in turning a phrase.

Below, a collection of some the more memorable ones.

“If Apple becomes a place where computers are a commodity item, where the romance is gone, and where people forget that computers are the most incredible invention that man has ever been invented, I’ll feel I have lost Apple. But if I’m a million miles away, and all those people still feel those things… then I will feel that my genes are still there.”
“Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”
“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”
“My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better.”
“When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.”
“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.”
“Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works. The design of the Mac wasn’t what it looked like, although that was part of it. Primarily, it was how it worked. To design something really well, you have to get it. You have to really grok what it’s all about.”
“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful, that’s what matters to me.”
“Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.”
“Innovation … comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We’re always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it’s only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.”
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”
“When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
“I get asked a lot why Apple’s customers are so loyal. It’s not because they belong to the Church of Mac! That’s ridiculous. It’s because when you buy our products, and three months later you get stuck on something, you quickly figure out [how to get past it]. And you think, “Wow, someone over there at Apple actually thought of this!”

Burundi fights Pneumonia with vaccine

2011-09-28T22:04:00.000+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi

Development News- 20th September 2011

Dr. Sabine Ntakarutimana, the Minister of Health Burundi hasintroduced another life saving vaccine to the routine national vaccinationprogramme.

Burundi becomes the tenth country in Africa to introduce newpneumococcal vaccines through immunisation, which could save about 16,000deaths in Burundi annually.

The pneumococcal vaccine used in the fight against pneumoniawas introduced last week, 20th September, the latest under the nationalExpanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), which covers 320,000 children between0 to 11 months.

The EPI programme also includes other vaccines; BCG fortuberculosis, polio and measles vaccines as well as a combined pentavalentagainst diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenza.

“Immunisation is a better investment for the country, forthe health of our children, the well-being of our families and the economicgrowth of our country. It is a right for children and the responsibility of parents,”said Ntakarutimana at the province of Kayanza where the vaccine waslaunched.

In Burundi, acute respiratory infections, which includepneumonia caused by pneumococcus, constitute the second major cause ofunder-five child mortality, about 16,000 deaths per year, according toepidemiological statistics from the Ministry of Health.

“Pneumonia is still killing too many of our children, butwith this new vaccine we aim to reverse this tragedy and set our children oncourse for a healthy future,” said Dr. Ntakarutimana.

“The introduction of pneumococcal vaccines into Burundi is asolid long-term investment for the country’s social and economic potential,”said GAVI Alliance CEO, Dr Seth Berkley.

Pneumococcal disease, the leading cause of pneumonia isglobally the biggest infections killer of children. It takes the lives of800,000 children each year, largely in the developing world even if the diseaseis preventable.

According to UNICEF, 89 percent of all deaths linked topneumococcal infection are due to pneumonia while 6 percent are due tomeningitis and other serious complications are 5 per cent. Around 90 per cent of deaths occur in developing countries,particularly in Africa, two major risk factors HIV/AIDS and drepanocytaemia orsickle cell anaemia accelerate it.

Pneumococcal vaccines, once fully rolled out globally, areexpected to save seven million lives by 2030.

“Of all the health interventions available, immunization isone the most efficient and cost effective, savings millions of children in theworld,” said Mr. Souleymane Diabate, UNICEF Representative to Burundi.

Although, certain pneumococcal vaccines have been inexistence since 2000, they have not reached the countries where they are neededmost until recently.

However, in 2007 the Global Alliance for Vaccines andImmunization (GAVI) launched an innovative vaccine financing effort called thepneumococcal advance market commitment to help change this and bringpneumococcal vaccines to developing countries.

With US$ 1.5 billion from Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada,the Russian Federation, Norway, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation anda commitment of US$ 1.3 billion from GAVI, the AMC allowed the acceleration ofproduction capacity by the two manufacturers who currently produce thevaccines.

Developing countries contribute a small but increasing,co-pay to purchase the vaccine and ensure that the model is sustainable.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and five leading donorcountries manage the program. The Foundation also in 2010 announced a $10billion commitment over the next ten years to increase access to childhoodvaccines in the world poorest countries. The effort was labeled the ‘Decade ofVaccines.’

In recent months, the Central African Republic, Gambia, Cameroon,Benin and Rwanda have also introduced the new pneumococcal vaccine.

By 2015, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and ImmunizationAlliance plans to have supported the introduction of these vaccines in morethan 40 developing countries.

Ends-

Public Votes Kenya Shuga Actors

2011-09-06T10:44:00.000+03:00

CAST REVEALED FOR SHUGA: LOVE, SEX, MONEY

Nairobi, 6 September 2011:

Kenyan actors Christopher Otieno and Wairugi Mutero have won the public casting for the new series of Shuga: Love, Sex, Money, earning themselves a coveted role in the upcoming TV production. The news was revealed today by MTV Base, The Staying Alive Foundation, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and The Partnership for an HIV-Free Generation (HFG).

Christopher and Wairugi won their roles after an online poll voted for by the public. Wairugi will be playing the role of ‘Njoki’ (a party girl who loves to live in the moment) while Christopher will be cast as ‘Slim’, a small-time gangster. They join new cast members Nick Ndeda (Angelo), Nancy Wanjiku (Baby), Brenda Wairimu (Dala), Edward Nyanaro(Rayban), Avril (Miss B’have) and Ikubese Emmanuel - a.k.a. 9con - (Femi). Filming for the new series kicks off this week in Nairobi.

Meanwhile, Lupita Nyong’o, who played the pivotal character of Ayira in Shuga, returns on the other side of the camera as co-director alongside South African veteran Teboho Mahlatsi. Nyong’o, an award-winning documentary maker and actress, who is studying acting at the Yale School of Drama, will also be making a brief cameo appearance in the series.

Commented Lupita Nyong’o, “Shuga was such a groundbreaking series and I am so thrilled to be working on the project again! This time I’ll really have my hands full as I will be both in front of and behind the camera but I can’t wait to be involved in the sequel to this incredible story.”

Also returning for the second series of Shuga are Sharon Olago (Violet), David Omwange (Skola), Nick Mutuma (Leo),Antony Mwangi (Kennedy) and Valerie Kimani (Sindi).

The first series of Shuga was filmed in Kenya in August-September 2009. Starring a young cast of upcoming Kenyan actors and actresses, Shuga told a bitter-sweet tale of love, loss, sex, heartbreak and relationships, set in the clubs, bars, campuses and hangouts of contemporary Nairobi. With a raw and uncut view on the lives of sexually active young Kenyans, Shuga spot lit the risks associated with unprotected sex and the party-hard lifestyles of urban Kenyan youth, told through the interlinked characters and storylines.

“We are very excited to reveal the talented cast that will feature in Shuga: Love, Sex, Money,” said Lydia Murimi, HFG Kenya Country Director. “As partners in Shuga, one of our aims is to ensure that we gave all the hopeful, determined, young Kenyans an opportunity to demonstrate their talent and compete for the roles. Through this, we are expanding G-PANGE as a lifestyle choice for all.”

Commented Georgia Arnold, Executive Director, MTV Staying Alive Foundation, “Thousands of young people have become involved in the casting of Shuga either through the auditions or via the voting process. We have been astounded by the quality and quantity of the actors we have seen and I look forward to seeing how our new cast members, characters and storylines will interact with our established cast.”

For more information about Shuga: Love, Sex, Money log onto www.mtvshuga.com or www.g-pange.com. To share your thoughts on Shuga: Love, Sex, Money, add #Shuga or #ShugaStar to your tweets.

-ENDS-

For more media information, imagery or comment, please contact:

Alison Reid Rose Thuo

Director of Communications Communication Manager

MTV Networks Africa Partnership for an HIV-Free Generation

T +33 385 30 0636 +254 20 235 1836/9

M +33 609 685 861 +254 712 990 873

Email: alison.reid@mtvne.com rthuo@hivfreegeneration.org

Uganda tea yields to be reduced by climate change

2011-08-25T13:55:00.001+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi

Uganda’s tea producers may well enjoy high yields but for a while as these will fall drastically if the latest climate change predictions come true.
The Uganda Tea Association raised its tea production forecast by about 9 percent for this year, attributed to use of fertilizers and more acreage put under planting the crop.
George William Sekitoleko the executive secretary of Uganda Tea Association said production would this year increase to 64 from 59.4 million kilograms last year. Tea export earnings are now on average about $100 million.
But climate scientists say a progressive rise in temperatures, which will be evident by 2020 and peak in 2050, would lead to increased attacks from pests and diseases and lead to steep declines in tea production in Uganda.
Overall climate will become less seasonal, with temperature in specific districts, increasing by about 1 ºC by 2020 and 2.3 ºC by 2050, said a report released last week by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).
Areas that will retain suitability- the capacity of the crop to produce acceptable yields- will decrease by 20 – 40 percent, compared with today’s suitability of 60 – 80 percent, the study ‘Future Climate Scenarios for Uganda’s Tea Growing Areas’ says.
Tea is now Uganda’s second agricultural export earner after coffee and having overtaken fish, it is grown in warmer, relatively low altitude areas, to produce a bright, flavored and delicious tasty tea.
“If average temperatures rise by an expected 2.3 degrees Celsius by 2050, some of Uganda’s most lucrative tea producing areas could be completely wiped off the map,” said the study funded by the UK-based Cafédirect Producers’ Foundation and German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).
“Our tea depends on good weather and it has remained favorable. We have not had any set backs so far but if the predictions become true it will e very unfortunate,” said Sekitoleko.
Uganda’s tea industry, which produces some of the highest quality teas in the world, employs over 60,000 small farmers, and supports the livelihoods of up to half a million people.
Tea is mostly produced in the western part of Uganda, in the areas of Mpanga, Igara, Mabale, and Kayonza but the production area could be reduced to a narrow band of “marginal suitability”.
However, it says neighboring Kenya, where Uganda sells most of its tea through an auction market will not suffer as much. A study by CIAT released in June 2011 also showed the likely impact of climate change on tea production in Kenya, which also showed suitability take a serious hit.
Dr. Peter Laderach, a CIAT climate scientist on the team said the results were a ‘shock’. “We thought those from Kenya were severe, but in Uganda it’s even more serious. It is crucial to help minimize the risk to one of the country’s most important cash crops, and the hundreds of thousands of people who rely on it.”
The report advises for climate assessments for possible alternative crops; like cassava, banana, pineapple, maize, passion fruit, and citrus fruits.
“Helping farmers find practical, productive and profitable alternatives is a great way of spreading the risk of tea production,” said Laderach.
He advised against the shift uphill into cooler, more suitable zones for tea production because it could result in the clearing of forests and protected areas at a significant environmental cost.
The results of the study are will be disseminated to farmers, policy makers and other interest groups in Kenya and Uganda to ensure action from all stakeholders.
The Cafédirect Producers’ Foundation has met with farmer groups from Uganda and Kenya to discuss the implications of the CIAT reports, and to encourage their involvement in developing sustainable options for adapting to climate change, and reducing the environmental footprint of tea production.
“Most tea farmers in East Africa are aware that the climate is changing,” said Programme Manager Kenny Ewan. “The report has certainly helped us to show farmers some of the science behind their local knowledge.”
The Foundation is encouraging smallholders to develop their own, locally appropriate, adaptation and mitigation methods. For instance they can reforest hillsides and protect water sources, as well as planting kitchen gardens.
They are also advised to introduce more resilient tea varieties.
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Uganda recovers stolen Malaria drugs

2011-08-22T00:42:00.001+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi

Uganda has averted theft of malaria drugs worth Ush 4 billion ($1.6 million) since the formation of the Uganda Medicines and Health Services Delivery Monitoring Unit in 2009. As a result of more preventive measures, malaria drugs, especially Coartem, which were the most counterfeited because of the cost and large, available market are becoming less stocked out in Uganda health centres.

“I testify in court all the time on embezzlement of drugs, funds and absenteeism of health workers,” says Frank Byaruhanga an investigator with Monitoring Unit who goes to court twice a week. Byaruhanga says stock outs for malaria drugs are now improving but the focus is now changing to injectables, which are easier to steal.

In the last three years the government has made some initiatives to curb stock outs; establishment of the drug Monitoring Unit, change in delivery system at National Medical Stores, embossed drugs with Government of Uganda (GOU) and increased budget funding for drugs in the 2011/12 budget.
But also the increase in consumer awareness and knowing their rights as well as severe penalties of up to 5-7 years for embezzlement, the situation on stock outs has changed a lot.

“It is now at ‘manageable levels’ says Byaruhanga a detective assistant Superintendent of police. “Previously there were no drugs in health facilities only a day after delivery but now they stay until they are used up by patients.”

“Stock outs have improved and the stock out campaign has gone down maybe because it has run for two years,” said Christine Munduru, the public health programme officer for Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA). “We now want to focus on community monitoring of the new drug delivery system.” OSIEA supports civil society organisations to use community scorecards to follow health care delivery.

The monitoring unit has also increased sensitization of the public on stolen drugs although the practice is still rampant on border towns between Uganda and DR Congo, Kenya, and southern Sudan. Very often the drug Monitoring Unit sends back antimalarials and mosquito nets to Kenya diverted into Uganda, said Byaruhanga but so far Kenya does not do the same.

The supply chain problems:

In 2009, the National Medical Stores (NMS) changed from the pull system, basically user driven for the selection of the type of drugs and quantities by the district to a combination of the push and pull system driven by the ministry of Health.

But the efficiency in drugs delivery can also be attributed to SURE -Securing Ugandans’ Right to Essential Medicines, a USAID funded project that started in 2009 to turn around the drug distribution landscape in Uganda. It is five years $39 million project.

The pull system was dogged with poor forecasting of medicines and procurement procedures as well as low budget allocation for drugs leading to stock outs. All medicine was procured through the District medicines credit line systems by the district medical stores at their headquarters, sub-counties and hospitals.

In this system funds were released from the Ministry of Finance, to the Ministry of Health and then to NMS. But from July 2009, funds for procurement of essential medicines through the credit line system started to be released directly to NMS, after the latter got a direct budget vote.

“Due to the new delivery system, there have already been an increase in availability of medicines in the public sector which may indicate that changes in the medicine supply policy that were effected in 2009 to improve efficiency of the NMS are paying off at higher levels of health care (Health Centre IV and hospitals),” said Dennis Kibira, the medicines advisor at HEPS-Uganda.

HEPS-Uganda, which produces a quarterly medicine price monitor in its Oct-Dec 2010 issue, shows that availability of malaria drugs Artemether/Lumefantrine (A/L) tablets in the dosage of 20/120mg increased to 93 percent in October-December 2010 from 68 percent in April-June 2009 in all public sector facilities. Its availability also increased in the mission sector and the private sector.

The medicine price monitor also shows that availability of the malaria drugs for pregnant women Pyrimethamine/ Sulphadoxine in public facilities grew by 10 points to 67 percent over the same period.

But the medicines monitor also shows that the availability of medicines for non-communicable diseases has continued to be a challenge in the public sector.

For instance anti-diabetic medicines Glibenclamide and Metformin plus medicines for hypertension, Nifedipine and Propranolol; and medicines for ulcers were all in less than 60 percent of both public and private health facilities.

But as if children are the most neglected in medicines availability in Uganda, most public health facilities suffered from paediatric formulations stock outs.

Suspensions like Amoxicillin, Cotrimoxazole and Metronidazole were only available at less than 50 percent of the time in all public facilities while oral rehydration suspension for diarrhea, which has consistently been the most stocked paediatric formulation declined.

Malaria mostly kills children below five years, but the paediatric malaria suspensions, Artemether/Lumefantrine was not available in the public, mission or private sector facilities in over half the time it was supposed to be there.

“The low availability of appropriate paediatric medicines for leading killers, such as malaria and pneumonia, continues to compromise the quality of care offered to children and may be the reason for failing to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals on infant and child mortality,” said Kibira.

Kibira said that there is a lot of hope with the launch of the Affordable Medicines facility for malaria (AMFM) under the ministry of Health where both public and private sector have received subsidies that will increase availability and affordability of antimalarials.

Currently, first line treatment of malaria- arthemether/lumefantrine costs between Ushs. 1,500-2,000 ($0.5-0.7) in the private sector down from between 10,000-20,000/- ($3.8-$7.7) abut three years ago.

Stakeholders blamed the supply chain problems from lack of human resource and capacity at health facility level as well as lack of coordination in the supply management system.

Ends-

I was in the labor ward to deliver a fat baby girl for minutes

2011-08-09T18:56:00.001+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi

Today I was a medical officer for some minutes and witnessed the birth of a fat baby girl in one of the parking yards of Mulago hospital. So besides being a freelance journalist (which I am trying for a few months, the highlight so far was getting arrested after an assignment on my way from southern Sudan) I am also trying to lead a team that will hold the second health journalists conference.

I have a team of volunteers’ mostly young people from the US on internship, research or something, which is great because Ugandans idea of volunteering is still low and I totally understand it. So these days I get to talk to various people in the medical field not for interviews for stories but to ask for a hand- to either come to speak at the conference or give us some funding. We promise to put up everything on the website www.hejnu.com

Anyways I go to Mulago, the school, often to speak about the programme. Today I had an appointment with Dr. Jolly Beyeza and got some progress. The Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Uganda has agreed to fund half a day of the conference. I was happy walking humming and decided to pass by and chat with my cousin, a nurse at Mulago hospital.

After the chat I walked to the parking yard and there was this woman on the floor. The two women around her were screaming doctor, doctor help. Okay I was carrying my laptop but am no doctor; I don’t even look like one. Mistake.

Then I came closer and added my screams to the two the baby was coming. Lucky, another passerby, a nurse who I later got to learn was Brian Kibuuka an ECN. He quickly asked for gloves, by this time the crowd was bigger. Although the hospital was 2 minutes away there was actually no doctor or nurse coming to help.

So this Brian was real quick with in five minutes the baby was born and the mother was padded. Then I called him aside amidst the shouts. “It was at the third stage of labor. IT was not a complicated birth at all. Mother and baby should be fine but she should go to the hospital for a check-up,” Brian told me. It was his second roadside delivery but 61^st birth since he became a nurse.

Then he left. I pulled my phone to take some pictures to accompany this story/blog, but could not. You woman you are a journalist; now they knew; why are you taking this woman’s pictures. It is something we have discussed about in newsrooms, taking pictures in medical and health care reporting. The woman was in a pool of blood. I felt a swell in my throat and put back the phone in my bag.

But the disagreement, which had stopped, briefly to interrogate me was should this woman go inside the hospital after having delivered her baby here in the parking lot. The majority of the women were shouting “No she should not go inside the hospital. Those nurses and doctors heard us screaming for help but none of them came to our rescue. This guy (Brian) was only passing by and he helped.”

I was on the side of women saying no matter what the mother, Agnes, should go to hospital for check up and have the child given a tetanus jab. I have a sharp, piercing voice but it was like a whisper. It took about 10 minutes to just shout about this simple issue. One man, I suspected was the father, shouted the most that Agnes and baby should just go home. I guess he was afraid of paying bills. The medical people or they were not who passed by did not intervene. Agnes was just looking on saying nothing.

Anyway I remembered I had to go for another appointment. As I was pulling out of the parking, I saw Agnes with her fat baby girl on a boda boda leaving Mulago.

I only said a ‘thank you God’ because it was not a complicated birth or else it would be another maternal mortality and childbirth death statistic. Maternal health will be one of the issues we shall discuss extensively at the second health journalists conference due this September.

Uganda Government Never Ready on Maternal Health Issues

2011-08-07T01:43:00.000+03:00

ByEsther Nakkazi

Thecourts adjourned the Constitutional Court case on preventable maternal death inUganda last week after the government asked for more time to prepare theirdefense.

Itwas the only one time in four that the judges raised quorum but hadinsufficient defense. However, public interest remains high showing theincreasing public alertness to their health rights and intolerance of poorhealth delivery by the government.

Inthis unprecedented case in East Africa, Civil Society Organisations andfamilies of two women who died in childbirth are suing the Uganda Governmentfor non provision of essential services for pregnant women and their newbornswhich breaches its fundamental obligation to uphold the Constitution andviolates the right to health and the right to life.

DavidKabanda the lead counsel said it is important that the government treats thecase with the urgency it deserves but lobbying would continue. The next hearingis expected early September this year.

“Theyhave not put in substantial affidavits in reply. But they have acknowledgedthat the evidence is overwhelming and will need technical support to be able toreply,” said Kabanda. The government said it is waiting for affidavits from theministry of Health and Finance.

Previously,there was lack of quorum by the judges, a sign that the government was notserious and was not ready but the public turn up was high as about 750 peoplemarching in three spots in Kampala, Arua and Mityana.

“Itappears that the case is not being treated with the urgency it warrants despitethe life and death issues being considered in this petition,” said Asia Russellfrom the US-based lobby group, Health Global Access Project (Health GAP).

Uganda’smaternal mortality rate is 435 deaths per 100,000 live births, while the infantmortality rate is estimated at 76 deaths per 1,000 live births.

InUganda, 16 women die everyday in childbirth.

“Themere fact the violation continues is important that the constitutional courthears this case expeditiously. The turn up of a huge number of people in thecourt cases points to the fact that it is of public interest,” said MosesMulumba the chief petitioner of the case.

Thepetition calls upon the judiciary to pronounce the escalating maternal deathsin Uganda as an issue that violates the Constitutional rights of Ugandans.

Ithighlights the case of Sylvia Nalubowa, a mother of seven children in Mityanaand of Jennifer Anguko, a mother of three both of whom died as a result of thegovernment’s failure to fulfill its constitutional obligations to provide basicmaternal health care.

InMay this year, the Centre for Health Human Rights and Development (CEHURD), aUgandan NGO, and the families of Sylvia and Jennifer sued the governmentthrough the Ugandan Constitutional Court alleging the women’s deaths werecaused as a direct result of Uganda’s failing healthcare system.

CEHURDofficials urge the Court to declare that the continuous failure to implementeffective policies on maternal healthcare, under-staffing, and thenon-availability of basic maternal commodities in government hospitals amountto violations of pregnant women’s rights to health and life.

“Yearshave passed and the population is singing the same song over and over. Nodrugs, personnel are inadequate, personnel are rude to the sick... and the listcontinues. Where is government in all this,” asked William Kibaalya a socialworker managing social welfare programmes for children in Uganda.

Lobbyingthe public outside court

Butwith the no show by the judges, the civil society has devised other ways ofputting pressure on the government to pay attention.

Campaignershave initiated an online petition targeting the international community and abook collecting signatures of people affected by maternal deaths in Uganda.

Theonline petition, with an open letter to President Yoweri Museveni and thespeaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga is urging the government to pay attentionbecause this is a matter of life and death.

Anda book launched two months ago has so far attracted 1,700 signatures frompeople who have been affected by maternal deaths- orphans, widowers and allthose who have had a relative die in childbirth.

“Wewant to keep the momentum at the grassroots and also build pressure on thegovernment that is why we have the book and now the online petition,” saidMabel Kukunda, advocacy and networking officer, Uganda Network of HealthConsumer Organizations (UNHCO).

“Weare hopeful that the Justices will acknowledge the plight of mothers in Uganda,and deliver a ruling that compels government to dramatically increasesinvestments in essential medicines, in recruitment and remuneration of healthpersonel and in equipping health facilities so that women get the services theyneed to survive and thrive before, during and after delivery,” the onlinepetition reads.

Backgroundto the case

SylviaNalubowa died on 10 August 2009 from complications of obstructed labor whilegiving birth to her second twin baby in the eighth pregnancy.

Earlier,her husband Stephen Sebiragala was referred to Mityana district hospital about15 kilometers away after being turned away twice at health centres with amidwife missing in one and a twin born in another health centre but the casebecame complicated.

AtMityana Hospital the staff demanded sh50, 000 ($ 20) before Sylvia could beattended to which was meant to purchase a ‘Mama kit’, a requirement of the costsharing policy in Uganda, where mothers are expected to carry a kit containingbasics to be used in the delivery of new babies.

Sebiragala,the widower says that if he had not had to spend so much money transporting hiswife, he would have had enough money to save the lives of both Sylvia and hischild. Buteven then, there was no medical doctor in theater so both Sylvia and the secondtwin died at Mityana hospital.

JenniferAnguko, a mother of three was admitted to Arua Hospital on December 10 2010with intense labor pains and waited for 15 hours for a doctor to carry out acaesarean section.

Shedied of obstructed labor after the uterus ruptured. Four other women died inthe maternity ward that same day.

Thepetitioners argue that the tragic deaths of Sylvia Nalubowa and Anguko Jenniferare but two manifestations of a larger problem of an unacceptably high rate ofmaternal mortality in Uganda.

“Ourhope is in the decision by Constitutional Court to compel government on itsobligations to address the crisis of maternal mortality,” said Russell.

Ends-

No More World Bank or Government Cash Uganda Scientists Cry

2011-08-07T00:51:00.000+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi

The Uganda government has decided not to put a furtherrequest for the World Bank Millennium Science Initiative (MSI) loan due toexpire by the end of this year.

The move is a shock to the science community who despiteputting Ush 17.2 billion ($ 6.8 m) budget to the government through UgandaNational Council for Science and Technology (UNSCT) this financial year was notconsidered.

Without reapplying for the MSI World Bank grant and with nobudget funding for science and technology, Uganda risks relying on externalfunding for new innovations and with no ability to set its science agenda.Donors fund what is in their interests.

We are living in the best of scientific times and havingscientific innovations funded by Uganda and designed to its needs would spureconomic growth.

Dr. Maxwell Otim the deputy executive secretary UNCST saysthey would not reapply for the MSI loan because the government thought researchand science was such an important aspect to be left to the donors.

He is still putting a positive light on a disappointingdevelopment even after the budget was read on June 8th and UNSCT was notmentioned. Partially, due to President Museveni being a strong supporter ofscience.

“We remain hopefully that the government will fund thebudget for this financial year which will again be used for grants as the MSIproject funds were used,” said Dr. Otim.

Kenneth Mugambe, the director budget, said that UNCST stillhas money from MSI, which has not been absorbed they cannot give them any moremoney until it is over.

In 2006, Uganda was the only country in Africa to win $30million in loans as part of the World Bank’s MSI project. It was counter fundedwith $3.3 million by the Uganda government and its implementation began in 2007by UNCST.

The 5-year project aimed to increase the number and qualityof science graduates, to improve Uganda’s research output, and to helpcompanies use the products of research.

Evidently, the MSI project has opened up research. With itUganda has managed to design and develop a malaria vaccine, it has newinformation on the Nile Perch and has increased training for scientists andengineers through UNSCT.

Products of the MSI in Uganda

The malaria vaccine has been tested in mice and baboons andit is so far a great success but there is still a lot of work to do. “The factthat we have tested it in baboons has made us get closer to humans and it willinform future malaria vaccine studies,” said Dr. Thomas G. Egwang the directorGeneral of Med Biotech Laboratories.

“We know what we can do and what ever we put out worked butwe only put in one malaria sequence in the human gene sequence to serve as abooster,” said Dr. Egwang.

“We need more funds to do this again and again before we getto test it in humans. But it is unlikely that they will renew the MSI grant,”said Egwang.

The Nile Perch studies have come up with information on itsbiology; breeding, size of eggs, reproductive methods and the type of food itcan eat.

These studies will enable the Nile Perch, whose stocks aredwindling in Lake Victoria to be reared under aquaculture conditions. However, the scientists need more funds to put in place whathas been discovered in an aquaculture setting.

The MSI loan also funded the establishment of strategiccourses in higher institution of learning like ICT related courses in Makerere,Kyambogo and Mbarara Universities.

Biosystems and textile engineering in Gulu and BusitemaUniversity respectively are offered at undergraduate level. “Textileengineering because we grow a lot of cotton but do not add value,” said Dr.Otim.

In the MSI research there is human capital development soover 3,660 scientists and engineers have been trained through UNSCT; 102 arebeing trained at Master of Science (MSC) and Doctorate (PhD) level.

Uganda Science Problems;

But even if over the years, Uganda has increased investmentin research and training scientists, it is yet to build a critical mass thatwould make an impact. It boosted its spending on research and development, fromUS$73 million in 2005-06 to $155 million in 2008-09.

Also, funding science and research, remains below arecommended threshold but there is also; lack of the public appreciation ofscience, low students’ uptake of training in science and lack ofcommercialization of research products.

The overall funding remains relatively low, totaling just0.5 percent of GDP, according to Dr. Peter Ndemere UNCST executive secretary ofUNCST. The African Union recommended at least 1 percent.

“Government should commit more resources to science andresearch which are key to development and creating jobs. It should get itspriorities right,” said Ndemere.

Uganda has one of the lowest densities of researchers insub-Saharan Africa with 25 researchers per million inhabitants. Only 20 percentof its researchers have PhDs.

With emerging universities and research institutions,research work in Uganda has been steadily growing but a few institutions offerscience courses and do research.

At the UNCST, the number of new research projects registeredthere steadily increased from 166 in 2001 to 309 in 2008. But of the 27 publicand private universities in Uganda, only 6-offer science related programmes.The ratio of arts to science graduates is 5:1 at these universities.

For instance in 2006, student enrolment in science andtechnology at both private and public universities was 27 percent of totalregistered students, below the minimum requirement of 40 per cent recommendedfor rapid and accelerated economic growth and effective contribution to aneconomy.

One of the problems is that there are no mentors for scienceand the public’s attitude to science is very negative. We have a culture of applying sciencebut we cannot link education to it. We have no general appreciation of whatscience can do to an economy, said Dr. Paul Nampala executive secretary, UgandaNational Academy of Science (UNAS).

“There are a few institutions that train in science becauseit is expensive. Why would you put up laboratories when only a few studentswant to take on science courses” asked Dr. Paul Nampala.

According to Nampala, the overall lack of interest amongstudents is also reflected on the population. There are no science mentors adthe public’s attitude to science is very negative.

Uganda’s ratio of science and technology to the generalworkforce is 0.5 researchers per 1000 and there is only 1 personnel either researcher or technician per 1000of the labor force. In OECD countries it ranges between 5-18 personnel per 1000of the labor force.

Although funding remains a major problem, without a one-stopcentre like a ministry of Science to channel the funds and duplication ofefforts, Uganda’s science problems are further magnified.

“Malaria is the number one killer but all the funding on itsresearch comes from abroad. Now there are 20 projects on malaria in MakerereUniversity but they do not talk to each other. If they just talked there wouldbe no malaria in this country,” said Dr. Ndemere frustrated.

“People use research as a means of survival not to solve acommon problem. Everybody is hiding in a corner using research money tosurvive. Those who complete research cannot commercialize it.”

The solution should be the Ministry of Science, ‘funding hasto be forceful so you need somebody in cabinet to defend your budget,” said Dr.Ndemere.

“In Uganda budgeting follows a sector. If we had a sciencesector and a line ministry, we should have had budget allocation for it,”concurred Dr. Nampala.

This story was also published in the local media.Here is the edited version http://bit.ly/qntFkk

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Uganda to verify informed consent among communities in research

2011-07-18T21:01:00.001+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi

Uganda is one of the few countries over outsourced forresearch involving human participants or clinical trials. With the hundreds oftrials held it is important for communities who participate to fully understandinformed consent.

The Ugandan National Council for Science and Technology(UNSCT) http://www.uncst.go.ug/ on 11th-13^th July, held the 3^rd annual national research ethics conferenceand one of the issues they discussed was ethical issues in research withcommunities.

With most of the research carried out among poor andilliterate communities it was noted that it was important for communities tofully understand informed consent.

One of the questions from the conference was ‘how do youknow that the participants have understood informed consent?’

Scientists then suggested that Uganda should have a standardmetric to measure or verify that communities have understood informed consent.This would evaluate the prospective communities to verify that they haveunderstood the message passed to them for it.

Researchers reported that most times after explaining aboutthe consent process, participants hardly ask any questions, either a fact thatthey have fully understood or that they have NOT understood anything.

With the low literacy levels it is most likely that theyhave not understood but go ahead to sign the forms anyway because the clinicaltrials come with free health care, which most families cannot afford. Peoplealways ask what is in it for me?

One of the ways noted by the researchers was thatparticipants agree to participate but when they tell them to come back afterone week for follow up they do not show up. Does that mean they did notunderstand?

Secondly, the percentage of participants that drops out ofthe research is so small at less than 10% in comparison to an average of 30-40percent in the developed world.

The lack of independence for the participants to drop out ofclinical trials was attributed to fear, intimidation but researchers wereadvised to assure them that they would get the same quality of services asdropouts.

Researches were reminded by Prof. Florence Mirembe to useinnovative approaches to informed consent using the simplest language, flipcharts, videos, explaining the procedure, the potential risks and discomfortsas a result of the research.

For instance, drawing of blood may result into fainting,this does not have an equivalent word in the local languages but it should beexplained thoroughly.

The poor bear the burden of clinical trials and they shouldbe protected from exploitation to gain from the products of the research.

With the number of clinical trials increasing in Uganda, soare ‘safari’ research and the increasing lack of understanding of informedconsent among communities.

I have only written about one sitehttp://healthdev.net/site/post.php?s=8014 where participants were givenpre-service tests that they had to pass before undergoing male circumcision. Ifmore protection and understanding is not done for participating communities inclinical trials the scale will be topping more towards exploitation.

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Traditional birth attendants outlawed in Uganda but practice persists

2011-07-05T17:20:00.000+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi
June 13th 2011

Throughout the African continent, may public officials believe their most powerful tool for improving health outcomes for mothers and infants is to ban or severely limit the influence of so-called Traditional Birth Attendants, and steer women to public health facilities.

However, many observers note that this strategy is complicated at best, and too often fraught with danger. For example, in Uganda, the government banned Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in 2009 because they had deviated from their major role of identifying and referring women pregnant mothers to health centres.

But they are still the providers of choice of many women in Uganda’s rural areas. This is because the country’s health system problems include health workers who are rude and insensitive to the needs of poor, uneducated clientele, substandard care given to pregnant women, or lack of transport to government sanctioned health centres.

So with the demand for their services still high, some organisations are training TBAs to work more closely with the official health care system by doing more referrals. This is a complicated proposition, because while many TBA’s are dedicated and professional, they may not possess the nuanced ability to know when it’s time to stop depending on their own skill and call on mainstream health professionals. In many cases, they may wait too long to admit they cannot handle a complicated delivery, resulting in death or serious injuries to baby and mother.

“They can give them herbs to stop vomiting and for bathing to bring down temperatures. But we encourage them to refer all mothers to health facilities for antenatal, delivery and postnatal services,” said Primrose Kyeyune, a technical advisor to Traditional and Modern Health practitioners Together against Aids and other Diseases (THETA) in Uganda.

Across the globe, experts readily acknowledge that many traditional birth attendants are often skilled enough in normal labor and birth. The problem arises when TBA’s lack the back up resources to transfer women enduring obstructed labor, or who need caesarian sections to nearby health facilities.

On average, sixteen women die of pregnancy-related problems everyday in Uganda, most of them due to emergency complications like excessive bleeding at delivery or during 42 hours after giving birth. Two thirds of maternal deaths occur during that window of time.

At least 22 percent of women die due to infections developed during pregnancy, labour, and even after birth.

Dr Sentumbwe-Mugisa, a reproductive health expert, says women develop severe infections and die because the birth canal, the abdomen, or sometimes the blood becomes infected, a condition called septicemia. Other women get infections after abortions.

But Uganda also has many survivors of obstetric fistula; women who survived obstructed labour, often lasting for days, but rarely with a live child at the end of it. Officials believe most of these cases may involve a TBA who did not seek outside help.

Why Demand remains high

Ms. Bernadette Nabatanzi, a former TBA, says most women choose TBAs because they are confidants and counselors.

Nabatanzi a 70-year old reproductive health and counseling expert says she learned the skill from her grandmother, who was also a traditional birth attendant.

“I remember very well when women used to give birth to premature babies, and we placed them in underground holes we had dug in the house.

“My grandmothers’ house had eight holes in different locations, which were padded with dry sorghum leaves and old cloths for the baby’s mattress.

“When a premature was born, we would wrap them in a clean cloth and place them in those holes, only to be removed to breastfeed. After about two weeks, the child would be grown enough to go with the mother.”

Indeed, stories like these help explain the complicated clash between tradition and modernity when it comes to providing appropriate health care for pregnant women and babies. For example, many rural Ugandan women about to deliver go to a nearby banana plantation, hold on to a plantain and push the baby. Banana leaves are spread below to act as a bed for the delivery and the TBA stands by, to administer herbs.

In communities where these practices are common, it takes more than just a government decree to convince women they need to choose public health facilities over the kind, trusted older women they’ve known all their lives.

“I give my clients a lot of time to express themselves and talk about anything. They do not pay consultation fees, there are no long lines,” says Nabatanzi, who has delivered hundreds of babies but now only refers pregnant women to health facilities.

Nabantanzi says she now only gives herbs for bathing and to stop vomiting. But she adds that she is a mainstay in her village- ‘Always available, reliable and people trust me.’

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Uganda Health Budget rises with impact on service delivery

2011-07-04T16:07:00.000+03:00

9.06.2011

By Esther Nakkazi

The Uganda government increased budget financing to the health sector for 2011/12 financial years further reducing on donor dependence, which is expected to improve sustainability and improve quality of health care delivery.

Financing the health sector increased to Ush 985.8 billion (412 million) this year from Ush. 660 billion (270 million) the previous year while financial assistance from development partners is expected to reduce in line with the overall budget. Uganda will fund 71 percent of its budget.

Mrs. Maria Kiwanuka the minister of Finance said the funds for health would mostly be spent on infrastructure development, drugs and basic medical equipment procurement as well as recruitment of key medical personnel.

The largest gaps have been in infrastructure, human resources, drugs, vaccines and consumable sundries.

Health care will be delivered more efficiently and we shall have a greater impact with increased financing of the budget, said Dr. Asuman Lukwago, the Permanent Secretary, ministry of Health.

The continued increase of financing its health sector budget and reduced aid flows to the sector will enable strengthened planning, better accountability and financial management said a health sector official.

Francis Runumi, the commissioner health services planning at the ministry of Health has always encouraged the government to increase its financing to the sector to match with the growing population.

“The budget is only a slight improvement which is good but it does not address the human resource issue. If Ushs. 400 billion ($165 million) of that money is used for infrastructure how will it impact directly on service delivery?” asked Runumi.

According to Mrs. Kiwanuka the health sector registered a growth rate of 12.6 percent in 2010/11, which was a better performance, compared to the 11.9 percent increase in 2009/10.

The trend in disbursements have been growing but still fall short of the demands for the large population creating a funding gap. The ministry of Finance National Budget framework paper shows that in the financial years 2006/07, 2007/08 and 2008/09 allocations where Ush139.23 bn ($57 million), 150.9 bn ($62 million) and 253.08 bn ($104million) respectively.

In 2010/11 and 2011/12 the financing from government amounted to 660 billion (270 million) and 985.8 billion (412 million) respectively. Over the years also the ratio of government to donor financing the health sector has continued to go down from 60:40 in 2008/09 to 75:25.

But most of the health sector funding from development partners is off budget, which has created a big disconnect between donor funding and implementation on the ground, health officials say.

For instance in 2010/11 financial year project aid for the health sector was Ush. 90.44 billion (37 million) and is expected to increase to 397.1 billion ($162.4) this financial year.

Of this the World Bank has already approved US$130 million to strengthen Uganda’s public health systems through improved human resources; provision of physical infrastructure; and greater accountability for service delivery.

Some of the funds will be used to support the Government to renovate hospitals, improve management of health workers, strengthen leadership in the sector and provide reproductive healthcare, including family planning services, according to Kundhavi Kadiresan, World Bank Country Manager for Uganda.

Effect of cutting travel and workshop budgets

Mrs. Kiwanuka in the 2011/12 budget proposed a 50 percent cut on advertising budgets for all Ministries and Agencies as well as 30 percent cut on the budget for allowances, workshops and seminars, travel inland and abroad.

The cuts will also be effective for allowances of fuel, vehicle maintenance, printing and stationary, welfare, entertainment, books, periodicals and newspapers, special meals and the purchase of furniture.

Purchase of new Government vehicles has been frozen and there will be an immediate forensic audit of Government salaries, wages and pensions.

“When these expenditures are cut off we shall improve efficiency and create a big impact in delivery of health services in the sector,” said Dr. Lukwago.
 
Health is one of the ministries that have been spending big sums of their budget on sectoral policy functions. For instance fuel costs and management took up almost 10 percent of the ministry budget in 2009/10 because of large fleet management.

Workshops and seminars accounted for 7.3 percent of the ministry recurrent budget in the same year twice the total sum allocated to 15 referral hospitals for non- wage expenditure.

Kenneth Mugambe the director budget, in the ministry of Finance said there is a higher priority attached to sectoral policy functions and a comparatively lower priority accorded to the actual health service delivery functions of hospital services. But this will now change with the new budget announcement.

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The 2011/12 Budget speeech

2011-06-08T15:16:00.001+03:00

THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA

BUDGET SPEECH
Financial Year 2011/12

Theme: Promoting Economic Growth, Job Creation and Improving Service Delivery

DELIVERED AT THE MEETING OF THE FIRST SESSION OF THE 9TH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA

ON
WEDNESDAY, 8TH JUNE, 2011

BY

HONOURABLE MARIA KIWANUKA
MINISTER OF FINANCE, PLANNING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
PREAMBLE

Your Excellency the President of the Republic of Uganda,
Your Excellency the Vice President
The Right Honourable Speaker of Parliament,
Your Lordship the Chief Justice,
The Right Hon. Deputy Speaker of Parliament,
The Right Hon. Prime Minister;
Honourable Ministers
Honourable Members of Parliament,
Distinguished Guests

. Introduction
1. Madam Speaker, I beg to move that Parliament resolves itself into a Committee of Supply for consideration of:

i) The Revised Revenue and Expenditure Estimates for the Financial Year 2010/2011; and
ii) Proposals for the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the Financial Year 2011/2012.

2. Madam Speaker, Article 155(1) of the Constitution provides that the President shall cause to be prepared and laid before Parliament estimates of revenue and expenditure for each financial year. I am accordingly performing this duty on behalf of the President.

3. Madam Speaker, with the overwhelming renewal of the mandate of the NRM Government, I wish to congratulate His Excellency the President for the victory achieved at the recent General Elections. I also extend congratulations to you Madam Speaker for your historic election to the high office of Speaker of Parliament, and to Honourable Members who have been elected and re-elected to the 9th Parliament; and to all Ugandans for successfully marking yet another milestone in democratic governance.

4. Madam Speaker, during His Excellency the President’s swearing in ceremony on 12th May 2011 and in the State of the Nation Address, he clearly outlined the key interventions crucial for the transformation agenda of our country. His Excellency the President placed emphasis on interventions in transport and energy infrastructure, skills development and the stimulation of employment, the need to enhance an enabling environment for business and improving the effectiveness of Government.

5. Madam Speaker, peace, security and political stability are an important pre-requisite for socio- economic progress. Stability, both within the country and in the region has been an important factor in increasing economic activity and promoting trade activities within the region from which our traders and the country as a whole have benefitted.

6. The Budget I am presenting today therefore reflects the Government’s continued determination to strategically prioritize those core programmes which form the main foundation for the transformation of our economy on a sound and sustainable basis.

7. Accordingly, Madam Speaker, the theme for the budget for the Financial Year 2011/12 is “Promoting Economic Growth, Job Creation and Improving Service Delivery”

. Economic and Sectoral Performance of the FY 2010/11
and the Medium Term Economic Outlook

8. Madam Speaker, the Background to the Budget 2011/12, which has been made available to Honourable Members, contains an extensive review of the performance of the economy and different sectors during Financial Year 2010/11. It also provides an assessment of the medium term economic outlook. I will therefore only highlight key developments and future prospects in my statement.

Economic Performance
National Output,
9. Madam Speaker, despite the slow recovery in the global economy and increasing domestic prices, economic activity remained robust during the past year. The total National Output of goods and services, commonly referred to as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rebounded, growing at 6.3 per cent during the year, compared to 5.5 percent in Financial Year 2009/10. Consequently, National Output is projected to total Shs 38,800 billion, an increase from Shs 34,810 billion in the Financial Year 2009/10. The rebound in economic activity is largely attributed to the recovery in construction and increased trade activities. In addition, there has been a strong performance in the telecommunications, financial services, mining and quarrying sub-sectors.

Agriculture
10. Madam Speaker, the livestock sub sector grew by 3.0 percent, while the food crop sub sector registered 2.7 percent growth. However, poor rainfall and drought have severely affected the agricultural sector, with output of cash crops declining by nearly 16 percent during the current financial year. This reduced the overall growth in agricultural output to 0.9 per annum, compared to 2.4 percent recorded in the previous year.

Industry
11. Industrial production improved during the year, with growth estimated at 7.5 percent as compared to 6.5 percent the previous year. The robust growth was driven largely by construction, mining and quarrying activities. Construction activities recorded growth of 7.7 percent in real terms, following a 5.9 percent increase the year before. Growth in mining and quarrying activities is estimated at 15.8 percent during the same period.

Services
12. Madam Speaker, the services sector, which is currently estimated to contribute over 50 percent of total annual national output, continues to be a major driver for economic growth. This sector includes trade activity, education, telecommunications and financial services. During the year, the services sector grew by 8.0 percent, an increase from 7.4 percent in the previous year. This buoyancy in the services sector is due to stronger performance of the telecommunications, financial and trade activities.

13. Telecommunication services continued to be the fastest growing sector in the country and are estimated to have increased by 21.2 percent during the past financial year, while the financial services sector recorded strong growth at 10.3 percent in real terms. The growth in telecommunication and financial services has been driven by increased competition among service providers, which has resulted into significant price reductions and increased innovation leading to new products being offered on the market.

Prices
14. Madam Speaker, the country has been experiencing price increases, about which Government is concerned, and will address with measures I will detail later. The general price level of all items increased by 16.1 percent per annum in May 2011. Food crop prices have registered the greatest increase recorded at 44.1 percent over the same period while prices for Electricity, Fuel and Utilities (EFU) items increased by 9.1 percent over the same period. Annual non-Food Inflation in May 2011 was 7.4 percent, confirming the fact that the major drivers of the current surge in inflation are constraints to food supply.

15. Madam Speaker, the causes of the increased food prices have been primarily poor rainfall and drought which affected food production during the last two seasons of this financial year. Increased regional demand for food has also contributed to the surge in food prices. At a regional level, countries in the East African Community have all suffered high food inflation as a result of drought and the high global food prices. It is important to note that the monthly inflation rate for food crops decelerated in May 2011 to negative 0.6 percent, compared to a monthly increase of 17.4 percent recorded in March 2011. This means that food inflationary pressures are abating and prices are expected to come down soon following the forthcoming harvesting.

16. Madam Speaker, inflationary pressures have also been driven by both increased global commodity prices and the depreciation of the Uganda Shilling, which has affected domestic prices. Inflation in China, India and Kenya, the main sources of Uganda’s imports, has risen persistently, leading to higher imported inflation. For example the average price of crude oil in April 2011 reached US $ 128 per barrel, an increase from US Dollars 66 in December 2009. This increase in international fuel prices passes through to the domestic market because of a depreciated Uganda Shilling. As a consequence, domestic pump fuel prices are now at an average level of Shs. 3,500/= per litre for petrol and Shs. 3,200/= per litre for diesel.

17. Madam Speaker, it is also important to note that the pump prices of petroleum products in Uganda are comparable to those within neighbouring countries, distance from the sea notwithstanding. In Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania, fuel prices for petrol are equivalent to Shs 3,860, Shs 3,190, and Shs 3,300, respectively.

18. As I have noted, the primary driver of the current inflation is the shock to food prices. Non food inflation remains at relatively moderate levels. Annual services price inflation was only 2.6 percent in May 2011. Inflation pressures are therefore expected to recede when supplies of food to domestic markets improve during the course of next financial year both headline and core inflation.

External Sector
19. Madam Speaker, Uganda’s balance of payments continued to be constrained as a result of slower growth of exports, tourism receipts and remittances on one hand, while imports continue to increase. Total exports of goods amounted to US Dollars 2.43 billion in the past year, compared to US Dollars 2.32 billion in the previous year. This translates into an annual growth of 4.7 percent compared to 4.5 percent in the last period. The slow growth in exports is a result of the on-going recovery from the global economic crisis in some of Uganda’s major trading partners. Imports of goods, on the other hand, have continued to rise as they are structurally dependant on domestic needs.

20. Total imports of goods and services amounted to US Dollars 4.54 billion, compared to US Dollars 4.0 billion in the previous year. This translates into an annual growth of 13.2 percent, compared to a decline of 1.1 percent in the previous year. The growth in imports has been much faster than that of exports, meaning that the gap between exports and imports, commonly referred to as the trade deficit, has widened. Most of the imports have been for production related activities to support a fast growing economy, including increased activity in the oil sector.

21. Madam Speaker, an increase in the world price for coffee has generated higher incomes for Ugandan farmers. Coffee export earnings this year increased by 13.1 percent as a result of higher global prices. Cotton export earnings have also registered a marked increase of 296 percent over the past year, from just US Dollars 17 million last year to US Dollars 67 million this year. At a regional level, the high demand for Uganda’s farm produce has been and continues to be an opportunity for farmers to increase their incomes by producing more for the market. Other formal non-Coffee export receipts amounted to US Dollars 1.34 billion. Exports that performed most strongly in this category include sim-sim which registered 83 percent growth, maize, recording a 17 percent growth and fish recording a 16 percent growth.

22. Madam Speaker, Foreign Exchange Reserves are projected at US Dollars 2.2 billion by end June 2011, equivalent to 4 months of import cover, compared to US Dollars 2.498 Billion in June 2010. The Inter-Bank Foreign Exchange mid- Rate in May 2011 was Shs. 2,388 per US Dollar compared to Shs. 2,259 per US Dollar in June 2010. The continued depreciation of the Uganda shilling reflects increased import demand in the face of weak export performance that has not fully recovered.

Monetary Sector
23. Madam Speaker, the monetary sector in Uganda has been resilient, reflecting good management. Interest rates have remained stable over the past year. The lending rates in April 2011 were at 19.2 percent compared to about the same level in June 2010. The deposit savings rate remains low, at only 2.4 percent during April.

24. Treasury Bill rates increased during 2010/11 as the Bank of Uganda tightened monetary policy to prevent the shocks to food and fuel prices from spilling over into higher inflation throughout the economy. The interest rate on the 364 day Treasury Bill rose from 6.2 percent in June 2010 to 11.3 percent at the most recent auction in May 2011.

25. Private sector credit demand was buoyant during the fiscal year, in part because of borrowing by the private sector to finance capital investment. Private sector credit grew by 34 percent in the 12 months to May 2011.

Fiscal Performance
26. Madam Speaker, fiscal performance was in line with the fiscal targets on overall resources and expenditures.

Budget Resources
27. Madam Speaker, total resources available for the budget amounted to Shs 8,374.3 billion during the financial year 2010/11. Oil revenue amounting to Shs. 1,008 billion was earned during the year, and Shs. 828 billion of this has been allocated to the Karuma Hydropower Project in the next financial year.

28. Domestic revenue collections by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) during the year are projected to amount to Shs 5,024 Billion, representing performance of 99. 8 percent against the target of Shs 5,034 Billion. Domestic income tax collections are expected to be above target by Shs 38.1 billion.. Taxes on international trade are estimated to have grown by 22.5 percent, reflecting a surplus of Shs 163.4 billion, driven by strong growth in import volumes, coupled with the depreciation of the exchange rate.

29. External financing, comprising loans and grants from development partners, are projected to total Shs 2,681.2 billion during the year compared to a target of Shs. 2056.1 billion. This represents a performance of 30 percent above target.

30. Non-tax revenue collections contributed Shs 86.3 billion, which is equivalent to about 1.7 percent of the total domestic revenue. This represents a 94 percent performance against the target of Shs. 91.5 billion. There is scope to increase non-tax revenue collections through reforms to improve transparency and accountability in non-tax revenue collection within Government institutions.

31. Several reforms in tax administration have been undertaken during the year to enhance the efficiency of tax administration and reduce costs of compliance. These reforms include rolling out online tax services in the Jinja. Gulu, Kampala, Mbale, and Mbarara stations. These developments allow taxpayers to register, file returns and pay taxes on-line, once they access the internet. Other improvements include quicker customs processes and improvements in the management of bonded warehouses. All these measures have contributed towards improved tax revenue performance. I call upon the business community and individuals to embrace the changes in revenue administration for the development of the country. An important reform that will be undertaken in the medium term is the introduction of the electronic Tax Register to enhance service delivery to the tax payers. I am directing URA to start sensitizing and preparing the tax payers for this reform.

Expenditure Performance
32. Madam Speaker, total approved Government expenditure for the financial year 2010/11 is projected at Shs. 9,325.7 billion. Development expenditure increased by 40 percent this year over the previous year, amounting to Shs 3,470.1 Billion. The increase in development expenditure is attributed to the depreciation of the Uganda shilling against major donor currencies which increased the donor disbursements in shilling terms, and the increased absorption on donor projects. This expenditure has financed projects in road works, energy, agriculture and water.

33. Salaries and Wages are projected to amount to Shs.1,620 billion this year, compared to Shs.1,300 billion spent in FY 2009/10. This represents less than 20 percent of the total budget.

34. Total interest payments are projected at Shs 419 billion, largely due to increased issuance of Government securities. This is meant to reduce money in circulation in the economy in order to dampen inflationary pressures which emerged in the second half of the financial year.

Social benefits
35. Madam Speaker, pension payments are projected at Shs 244 billion for this year, representing Shs 56 billion above the approved budget estimate of Shs 188 billion. This was because during budget preparation, there was insufficient information on benefits to be paid to ex-service men and local government retirees that were due to be transferred to the central government payroll.

Central Government transfers to Local Government
36. Transfers to Local Governments for purposes of meeting the local government wage bill and recurrent and development expenditures have continued to increase over the years. During the year, total local government transfers are projected to amount Shs 1,525 billion compared to Shs 1,461 billion in the previous year. Of the total local government transfers this year, Shs 360 billion is for development expenditure, Shs 248 billion for non-wage recurrent expenditures and Shs 960 billion for salaries and wages.

37. Implementation of the current budget has experienced extra budgetary pressures arising from the needs to finance the recent general elections and security related expenditures. In order to accommodate expenditure in these areas, cuts were effected on the Non-Wage Recurrent budget during the year, while protecting the priority areas of the budget. Although some areas did not receive full funding, the strategic priority objectives of the budget were not compromised.

Sectoral Performance

38. Madam Speaker, in the budget speech for the FY 2010/11, Government pronounced several programmes to be undertaken. I am glad to report that despite the challenges facing the economy, significant progress has been registered for most of the programmes.

39. I will therefore just summarise some of the key achievements in the key priority areas outlined in last year’s Budget Speech. These achievement are in the following areas:-

i. Infrastructure Development in Roads and Energy,
ii. Promotion of Science, Technology and Innovation for Value Addition, Private Sector Development and Employment Creation,
iii. Enhancing Agricultural Production and Productivity, and
iv. Human Development.

Infrastructure Development in Roads and Energy

Road Infrastructure
40. Madam Speaker, I am happy to report that during the year, Government continued to consolidate the work undertaken in previous financial years to improve and further develop Uganda’s road network and to reduce the backlog of outstanding works. A number of key projects have been completed this financial year and strides have been taken to improve the condition of the national road network. Some of the projects which are close to completion include:

i. Kampala -Gayaza-Zirobwe road;
ii. Soroti-Dokolo-Lira road; and
iii. Matugga-Semuto-Kapeeka road;
41. Substantial progress has been made towards the completion of Kabale-Kisoro-Bunagana Road, where 30km was completed in line with the target. A total of 44 km were completed against a plan of 34km in the reconstruction of Busega – Mityana Road. In addition, 30km of work was completed out of 47km planned on the Masaka-Mbarara Road.

42. Uganda Road Fund continues to finance road maintenance and has disbursed Shs. 468.2 billion since January 2010 to maintain 20,800 kilometers of national roads and 22,500 kilometers of districts roads. The funds were also for the maintenance of 4,800 km of urban roads, 30,000 kilometers of community access roads and 4,500 kilometers of municipal council roads. 4,850 kilometers out of the targeted 10,500 kilometers of unpaved national roads underwent mechanized routine maintenance. 850 kilometers out of the planned target of 1,610 kilometers of national roads were re-graveled.

Energy Infrastructure
43. Madam Speaker, at the commencement of this year’s budget, some units of the 250 MW Bujagali Hydropower Project were expected to be available. While substantial progress was made, unforeseen geological complications have delayed the Project. Consequently, the first 50 MW should be available by October 2011.

44. In addition, generation capacity has been installed with the commissioning of renewable power projects at the 18 MW Mpanga Power Project, while the 6.5 MW Ishasha Power Project is expected to be commissioned later this month. The 3.3 MW Nyagak Hydropower project is expected to be commissioned in the course of the next year. Other mini-hydro projects under development include 10 MW at Buseruka and 1 MW at Maziba.

45. The feasibility study for the 600 MW Karuma Hydro power project was completed during the year, and the Government is ready to commence its construction. The feasibility study for the 140 MW Isimba Hydropower Project will be completed in the next financial year.

46. Madam Speaker, the Rural Electrification Programme made substantial progress with the completion of the following Low Voltage Network lines:-
i. Nabitende – Itanda and Bugeso – Iwemba power lines;
ii. Mutolere – Matinza – Nyakabaya;
iii. Kyanika – Mulora;
iv. Kitgum – Padibe – Lokung;
v. Budusu – Bunawale; Japdong village; and
vi. Mpanga-Kamwenge-Kahunge

Science, Technology and Innovation for Value Addition

47. Madam Speaker, in order to improve Uganda’s competitiveness and business climate, as well as promote economic growth and create employment, Government prioritized a number of interventions during the financial year. The following achievements have been realized:

Information and Communications Technology

48. A total of 1430 km of optical fibre cable was completed under the second phase of the National Backbone and e-Government Infrastructure project. This compliments private sector efforts to develop high speed interconnectivity between the country and global internet and telecommunication networks.

49. In support of value addition, the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI) has commissioned several commercial production plants. These include:
i. Potato processing facility in Kabale;
ii. Peanut processing in Lira District;
iii. Fruit juice processing in Mpigi District;
iv. Meat processing facility in Busia District; and
v. Mushroom processing center in Kabale District.

50. Other developments at the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI) include the completion of a facility for the production of a vaccine against the Newcastle disease in poultry and a foundry for the fabrication of a variety of implements, equipment and machinery for use by Small and Medium Enterprises. This will facilitate the fabrication, by the private sector, of machinery for producing feeds, silk processing, soap production, paper production and a variety of looms for weaving.

51. Under the Presidential Initiative on Innovations in Food Science Engineering, Technology and Skills for production, Employment and Development in Animal Industry (SPEDA), over 500 jobs have been created in production marketing; research and development; and in food technology.

Agricultural Production and Productivity

52. Madam Speaker, last year’s budget prioritized increased agro-industrial production and productivity, improvement in employment opportunities and increasing access to markets.

53. The National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) supported approximately 487,500 farmers with inputs and advice to enhance food security. A further 22,000 out of a targeted 26,000 farmers received inputs and advice to enable them to become commercially oriented. These farmers were in the following enterprises: local and exotic poultry, improved cattle and goats; banana suckers & tissue culture; citrus, mango, coffee and tea seedlings.

54. The National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) developed 10 planned new crop varieties, and another 11 were submitted for approval before being released for multiplication.

55. The Agricultural sector continued to modernize livestock and livestock product marketing infrastructure in various districts. Construction of 9 modern livestock markets was completed in Masindi, Kamwenge, Mubende, Mbarara, Isingiro, Nakasongola, Luwero, Nakeseke, and Pallisa. In addition, 6 slaughter houses were constructed in Sironko, Pallisa, Isingiro, Kamwenge, Nakasongola and Nakaseke.

Human Resource Development

Education

56. Madam Speaker, in the Budget Speech of FY 2010/11, Government placed emphasis on the provision of education and skills development. In pursuit of these priorities, the Education sub-sector has achieved the following:

57. Government completed the construction of the following 5 Seed Secondary Schools and handed them over for use: Bagezza SSS in Mubende district, Namugongo SSS in Kamuli, Mbarara SSS in Mbarara, Mateete SSS in Sembabule and Pakada SSS in Zombo district. Government also completed the rehabilitation, expansion and re-equipping of Rukungiri Technical Institute. Furthermore, the rehabilitation and expansion of the following 5 existing traditional secondary schools were also completed:- Kabalega SS in Masindi, Mpanga SS in Kabarole, Kigezi College Butobere in Kabale, Lango College in Lira and Kololo SS in Kampala.

58. In order to promote science and technology in schools, 9 traditional secondary schools received fully equipped ICT laboratories. The beneficiary schools were: Rock High School – Tororo; Bishops School in Mukono; Kinyansano Girls in Rukungiri; St Mary’s College Rushoroza in Kabale; Sacred Heart SS in Gulu; Nyarilo SS in Koboko; Kibibi SS in Butambala; Wanyange Girls in Jinja and Mwereerwe SS in Wakiso.

59. Under the interventions to enhance skills development for employment generation, the Government has provided funds to complete and equip the following technical institutions: Abim, Katonga in Mpigi, Moroto, Kaboong, Nakapiripirit, Nkoko in Mayuge, Kasese Youth Polytechnic, Bumbeire in Bushenyi, Rutunku Community Polytechnic in Sembabule, Nakaseke Community Polytechnic in Nakaseke, Ssese Farm School and Mbale Community Polytechnic. In addition, ten thousand (10,000) youth country-wide were trained in various non-formal modularised courses for self employment.

Health

60. Madam Speaker, a key priority for next year in the Health sector was the improvement of health infrastructure. I am pleased therefore to report that during the year, equipment worth Shs. 1.68 billion was procured and distributed to 4 hospitals and 12 Level 4 Health Centers (HCIVs). A further 11 Level 4 Health Centers (HCIVs) had theatre equipment installed. With financial assistance from the Chinese Government, a modern Hospital has been constructed at Naguru in Kampala. In addition, six mental health units were completed and commissioned under support from African Development Bank (ADB) in Masaka, Lira, Mbale, Moroto, Mubende and Jinja Regional Referral Hospitals.

61. In order to control the spread of malaria, the Ministry of Health procured 7.3 million Long Lasting Treated Mosquito Nets (LLITNs) which were distributed throughout the country. In addition, medicine worth Shs. 201 billion was procured and distributed to Local Government health units, general hospitals and regional referral hospitals. These included Anti-Retrovirals (ARVs) for treating HIV/AIDs and Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACTs) for malaria. Utilising financial assistance from DANIDA, medicine worth Shs. 3.5 Billion were procured and delivered to Private Not For Profit (PNFP) Hospitals and Health centers.

Water and Environment

62. Madam Speaker, progress was registered in the rural water and sanitation sub-sector as follows:- 380 water facilities were rehabilitated and 17 valley tanks were constructed. In addition, 54 rainwater harvesting tanks were provided.

63. In the urban water and sanitation sub-sector, construction was completed on four piped water systems in Bwera, Mpondwe, Kiyenje and Rwene towns. With respect to water for production, Construction was also completed on Kagano dam and dams in Napak, Otuke and Moroto Districts, as well as valley tanks in Isingiro, Apac, Sembabule and Gomba Districts. In order to improve environmental management, over 4.5 million tree seedlings were distributed to agro-forestry farmers and 24 community watershed management groups were formed in the Karamoja region.

Economic Outlook
Macro Economic Objectives
64. Madam Speaker, Government’s primary macroeconomic objective in the medium term is to promote rapid, broad based and sustainable growth, consistent with transforming the country to middle income status. This is possible given opportunities available including the recovery in the world demand for exports, the high demand for food in the region and globally, favourable conditions for private sector investment, continued peace and stability, and prudent management of newly discovered oil resources.

65. The macroeconomic objectives in the medium term therefore seek to attain the following:-
i. the recovery in economic growth to at least 7 per cent per annum on average;
ii. reverting to an inflation target of 5 per cent;
iii. a stable, competitive exchange rate; and
iv. prioritizing investments which enhance the productive capacity in the economy and employment creation.

Oil Sector Management
66. Madam Speaker, with proven oil reserves estimated at 2.5 billion barrels, Government is finalizing the appropriate legal and institutional framework for resource and revenue management, which proposed legislation will be presented to Parliament. The Resource Law is intended to ensure efficient licensing, development, production and the utilization of the oil resource.

67. Madam Speaker, the legal framework will also provide for the design of an appropriate fiscal regime including revenue assessment and collection, treasury management, macroeconomic implications, petroleum fund management and intergovernmental fiscal relations. Aspects that prescribe adequate transparency and accountability will also be incorporated in the legislation.

68. The proposed legislation will also allow ease in the monitoring of oil revenues and establish an Oil Revenue Fund which will be used both to finance the budget and save and invest for future generations. To ensure prudent utilization of the Oil revenues, all investments and other expenses from the Fund will be budgeted for normally, and will be charged on the Consolidated Fund, with the necessary authorization by Parliament. Oil revenue will also be utilized to generate further growth and employment throughout all sectors of the economy.

Private Sector Development
69. Madam Speaker, in light of Uganda’s low ranking with respect to business licensing and registration, I will be addressing these issues squarely. A comprehensive review of business related licenses will be undertaken with a view to simplifying requirements, reducing discretionary powers, and eliminating redundant procedures. This is aimed at reducing the time and cost to both the public and private sector.

70. In addition, lengthy business registration processes that impose an unnecessary regulatory burden keep a large number of businesses in the informal sector. These businesses consequently face limitations in accessing formal credit and contracts which constrains their ability to grow, create employment and contribute to the economy through taxes. In the medium term starting next financial year, efforts will commence to merge procedures, as well as introduce online registration processes.

Access to Affordable Financial Services

71. Madam Speaker, to address the problem of limited access to financial services, Government is undertaking reforms that will enhance increased leasing, and also undertake pension sector reforms to help increase the savings rate and provide long term investment funds, as well as the development of the mortgage industry.

72. To reduce the cost of capital to the business community, Government will fully implement the National Identification Card over the medium term, which will aid in the easy identification of borrowers. This is in addition to efforts to improve efficiency in the land registry to secure the land assets to prevent fraud which increases risk of borrowers.

. KEY CHALLENGES

73. Madam Speaker, before I spell out the Budget strategy and priorities for the Financial Year 2011/12, I wish to highlight fundamental challenges which significantly affect the development of the economy. Furthermore, I will reflect on the challenges that have been the focus of attention in the recent past – notably inflation and unemployment.

Development Challenges
74. Madam Speaker, the NRM Government has continually stressed the importance of addressing the critical development challenges that constrain rapid transformation of the economy and its people to middle income status. The critical development challenges that Uganda faces have been clearly articulated in the National Development Plan, which therefore necessitates their prominence in implementation over the next five years. These challenges to social economic transformation include the following:-

. Inadequate Physical Infrastructure
75. Madam Speaker, inadequate physical infrastructure leads to high transport and communication costs and inadequate support for private sector growth. These impediments are characterised by
i. Low access to affordable electricity leading to low consumption of only 70 kilowatt hours per capita;
ii. Limited paved roads at 4 percent of the entire road network;
iii. Low capacity utilisation of the rail network of which only 26 percent is operational and carries only 3.5 percent of freight cargo;
iv. Moribund marine transport on Lake Victoria with only one major exit point in addition to no operational wagon ferries;
v. Inadequate and consequently high cost band-width for internet connectivity; and
vi. Low annual water consumption at only 22 cubic meters per capita compared to a world average of 600 cubic metres.

. Limited Supply to Critical Production Inputs
76. In addition to the low application of science, technology and innovation, Uganda faces an inadequate supply of critical production inputs characterised by:-
i. Inadequate availability and use of improved seeds, planting materials, and animal breeds, leading to low agricultural productivity;
ii. Limited application of irrigation and fertilizer use in agricultural production that could potentially increase yields; and
iii. Limited availability and consequently high cost of critical input such as cement, iron and steel.

. Inadequate Skills Base and Social Infrastructure
77. While tremendous progress has been made in education and health, for which additional efforts will continue, Uganda’s human resource base is still characterised by the following:-
a. Qualitative and quantitative deficits in skilled human resources especially in technical areas;
b. Low school completion rates and limited capacities in vocational and technical education which ultimately is reflected in low productivity of Uganda’s labour force;
c. Inadequate qualified persons in some sectors. For instance Uganda has low health personnel to population ratio with only one doctor for 25,000 patients; and one nurse for 1,630 patients; and
d. Inadequate social infrastructure and associated low service delivery with low health facility to population and high student classroom ratios.

. Inappropriate Mindsets, Attitudes and Culture
78. Madam Speaker, the Uganda economy is still faced with poor ethical values in commercial and business practice, in addition to continued backward cultural practices such as marginalisation of the girl child in access to education and early marriages, and discrimination of women in land ownership and inheritance. The following aspects continue to constrain development:-
i. Poor business and entrepreneurial attitudes, the lack of good work ethic, integrity and patriotism in both the public and private sectors;
ii. Negative perceptions in use and appreciation of natural resources;
iii. Limited adoption of science technology and Information and Communication Technology in business and social spheres; and
iv. Negative attitude towards work and entrepreneurship in favour of paid employment, and poor time management.

. Limited Access to Financial Services
79. Madam Speaker, access to financial services and affordable long term finance, remains a major constraint especially for Small and Medium Enterprises in Uganda. The key challenges in the financial sector include:
i. Insufficient financial services infrastructure across the country, limited number of bank branches and poor access to rural financial services;
ii. Limited availability of long term funds for development finance, coupled with a low savings culture; and
iii. High costs of financing with the nominal lending interest rates of banks ranging from 17 to 23 per cent, and even higher rates in the microfinance sector.

. Limited Employment Opportunities
80. Madam Speaker, another challenge facing the economy is rising unemployment. It is estimated that the current job market can only absorb 20 percent of the youth. Fortunately, the youth are highly adaptable and only require attitudinal transformation, together with technical and business management skills to fit into the existing job market and create avenues for generating their own small scale enterprises.

81. Madam Speaker, what I have just highlighted above, are key challenges facing the economy. The Budget strategy and the priority interventions which I am going to elaborate will therefore focus on addressing these challenges, commencing next financial year.

. The Budget Strategy and Priorities for FY 2011/12
82. Madam Speaker, the focus during the next year will be to implement interventions that address the challenges I have highlighted, especially rising inflation, unemployment as well as physical and social infrastructure and improved social service delivery. These challenges require new bold ideas and renewed efforts from all stakeholders.

83. Madam Speaker, in finalising the budget proposal for this year, extensive consultations have been made with the private sector, including the Uganda Small Scale Industries Association (USSIA), the Uganda Manufacturers Association, the Uganda Bankers Association (UBA) and the Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA). In addition, we have also consulted our development partners, other ministries and agencies in Government and the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda (PSFU).

Resource Framework
84. Madam Speaker, the Resource Envelope for the next financial year amounts to Shs. 9,840 billion. This comprises of Shs. 6,330 billion financed from domestic revenues of which Shs 6,170 billion is from tax revenues, Shs 121 billion from Non Tax Revenues and Shs 39 billion from domestic loan repayments. Resources from both Tax and Non-Tax Revenues will contribute Shs. 6,290 billion. Domestic Revenues are projected to finance about 71 per cent of the budget in the coming financial year. External financing from development partners will amount to Shs 2,900 billion, contributing 29 per cent of the budget.

85. Madam Speaker, in light of the constrained Resource Envelope, I have only been able to allocate additional resources amounting to Shs. 1,586 billion to priority areas that will accelerate implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP) and the NRM Manifesto, as well as tackling the key challenges currently facing the country. Therefore, expenditures on other areas will be constrained.

86. Madam Speaker, the priorities for next financial year will aim at implementing the strategy that I have spelt out. Next year’s budget priorities are the following :-
i. Infrastructure Development in Roads, Railways and Energy;
ii. Enhancing agricultural production and productivity;
iii. Employment Creation, especially for the Youth, Women and in Small and Medium Enterprises; and
iv. Human Resource Development, and
v. Improving Public Service Delivery.

87. Madam Speaker, I now wish to turn to the details of the budget priorities for the Financial Year 2011/12.

Infrastructure Development
88. Madam Speaker, priority allocations are being made to power generation, road networks, irrigation schemes, schools and improvement of health infrastructure. This builds on our steady progress made in these areas over the past years..

Transport Infrastructure
89. Madam Speaker, in the transport sector I have allocated a total of Shs. 1,219.41 billion towards implementation of the following key projects, among other activities:-
i. Commencement of upgrading to bitumen of the following roads:- Moroto – Nakapiripirit (93km), Hoima- Kaiso- Tonya (73km), Mukono – Katosi (74km) and Mbarara – Kikagati (66km), and Ntungamo-Kakitumba (37km)Ishaka – Kagamba (35 km).
ii. Commence upgrading to bitumen of the following roads to improve road connectivity to Southern Sudan:- Gulu-Atiak-Bibia/Nimule and Vurra-Arua-Koboko-Oraba;
iii. Reconstruct Tororo-Mbale-Soroti, Lira-Kamudini-Gulu, Atiak, Moyo-Afoji and Mbarara-Ntungamo-Katuna roads;
iv. Continued improvement of the road network including Kabale-Kisor-Bunagana, Soroti-Dokolo-Lira; Fort Portal- Bundibugyo Lamia;Matugga-Semuto-Kapeeka and Nyakahita-Ibanda-Fort Portal –Kitagwenda roads;
v. Fast tracking of the rehabilitation and continuous maintenance of national, district and community access roads; and.
vi. Continue the construction of key bridges across the country and accelerate the planning for construction of the second bridge on the River Nile at Jinja estimated to cost US$ 102 million.

90. Madam Speaker, Government has also embarked on a long-term plan for improving the transport network and ease traffic congestion in metropolitan Kampala. With effect from next financial year, we will embark on the programme for expansion of key highways leading to and from the city. Government will support the newly created Kampala Capital City Authority, to speed up the improvement of the city’s infrastructure. I have allocated a total of Shs 43 billion for the construction and maintenance of Kampala City Roads.

91. In addition to the resources to the road sector, the development of the Kampala – Entebbe highway will be undertaken utilizing a US Dollar 350 million loan facility from the Peoples Republic of China. Furthermore, in order to improve access to the Kalangala Islands, the construction and operation of a ferry from the Mainland will be undertaken in a Public Private Partnership arrangement during the year. In addition the main island road will be improved.

92. Madam Speaker, in addition to the activities I have detailed, Government will maintain funding to the on-going road construction projects as provided for in this financial year. In the next year, we will fast-track the completion of the various roads and embark on new ones as resources are freed from the completed projects.

Rail Transport
93. Madam Speaker, there is no doubt that continued reliance on road transport as almost a sole means of transport is partly responsible for the high transport costs and high depreciation of our roads due to the heavy road traffic.

94. In the FY 2011/12, the rehabilitation of the Kampala – Malaba railway will be undertaken and the operational efficiency along the Kampala – Mombasa will be improved. The rehabilitation of the Tororo – Pakwach railway will also be undertaken. In addition, the rehabilitation of the Marine Vessel (MV) Pamba will be undertaken to restore wagon ferry transportation on Lake Victoria, and also operationalise the Southern Route through Mwanza.

Energy
95. Madam Speaker, to address increasing demand for electricity and also develop oil and gas reserves in the Albertine Graben (Mwitanzigye). I have allocated an additional 850 billion for the following interventions:-
i. Completion of the 250 MW Bujagali Hydropower Project
ii. Commencement of the construction of the 600MW Karuma Hydropower project, for which I have allocated Shs. 828.6 billion;
iii. Completion of preliminary work on 140MW Isimba hydropower plant, which will be developed with private sector financing, and also complete the feasibility of the first phase of the 600MW Ayago hydropower plant;
iv. Commencement of preliminary work on the construction of the Oil Refinery near Hoima , for which I have allocated Shs 14.7 billion for preliminary work; ;
v. Construction of a Petroleum Resources Database at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, for which an allocation of Shs. 7 billion is being made.

96. Madam Speaker, most of the above projects will be funded through a multi-pronged approach, that includes; utilization of our own domestic revenues and implementation of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), in addition to traditional sources of financing from bi-lateral and multilateral institutions and non-concessional financing.

97. Madam Speaker, in addition to the above major interventions, Government will continue to finance the implementation of various key projects under the energy sector particularly those under the Rural Electrification Programme.

Agricultural Production and Productivity
98. The National Development Plan identifies agriculture as a vital contributory growth sector capable of reducing poverty and stimulating economic growth. Accordingly, in FY2011/12 priority interventions will focus on increasing production and productivity, agro-processing and increase enterprise efficiency through commodity value chains. The current increase in food prices is a clarion call for us to scale up efforts for increasing agricultural productivity.

99. Madam Speaker, Government will also continue with the ongoing efforts to provide affordable finance to enable farmers acquire necessary infrastructure to promote transformation to commercial agricultural production. The Agricultural Credit Facility which was introduced in 2009 was successful, achieving a disbursement of Shs 29.9 billion, representing a 99.7 percent performance. Eligible projects that received financing included the following:-

i. Wheat, Cotton, Coffee and Tea Processing Plant and Machinery
ii. Farm Machinery and Equipment
iii. Milk Processing Equipment
iv. Warehouse construction and Storage

100. However, performance of the scheme declined significantly in 2010 with a utilization of only Shs. 3.7 billion or a performance of 12.3 percent. This follows the increased risk that was supposed to be carried by participating commercial banks, as they were required to contribute twice as much as Government. In addition, the increase in interest rate to 12 percent was equally not favourable for several eligible projects.

101. Madam Speaker, I am therefore maintaining the Agricultural Credit Facility for a third year running with Government contributing Shs. 30 billion, which will be matched equally by participating Commercial Banks. Eligible projects in the agricultural sector, including the construction of warehouses and silos to improve storage, will therefore be financed at a preferential interest rate of 10 percent per annum for a maximum period of eight years, following the depressed performance in the last year.

102. In order to increase sustained production, Shs. 133 billion has been allocated will to the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADs) to increase the commercialization of improved seeds and other planting materials. Seed and agro-genetic propagation companies will be contracted within a long term framework to multiply improved seeds and planting materials, which will be delivered in time for planting during successive seasons over the forthcoming five years. The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries will also enter into long term framework contracts with certified animal breeders for the multiplication of improved breeds of livestock. NAADs will also continue to provide extension services across the country.

103. In light of the prevalence of animal diseases and crop pests that reduce production and productivity, I have allocated a total of Shs. 9.5 billion to strengthen disease and pest control.

104. Madam Speaker, I have allocated Shs 200 million to commence preparatory work for the restocking programme in Northern and North Eastern Uganda. I will provide the fund for restocking in the following financial year.

105. Madam Speaker, a major constraint to agricultural production is the availability of water. I have allocated Shs. 5 billion to the Ministry of Water and Environment to provide irrigation and water harvesting technologies in collaboration with the private sector.

106. Madam Speaker, the availability of storage for crops has been a major constraint leading to the destabilization of food and other commodity supplies to the market. This constraint also denies farmers from getting reasonable prices for their produce, especially when there has been a bumper harvest. I am allocating Shs. 2 billion for the rehabilitation of small-scale warehouses across the country at sub-country level. Furthermore, the private sector will be encouraged to access funding from the Agricultural Credit Facility to construct warehouses and silos to improve storage. In future, large warehouses and silos will be constructed by Government at regional level across the country.

Job Creation and Employment Strategy
107. Madam Speaker, as a first step to address employment challenges, I have allocated Shs. 44.5 billion towards creating jobs in the next financial year. The following interventions shall be implemented:-

i. A Youth Entrepreneurship Venture Capital Fund will be established together with the DFCU Bank, for which I am proposing an allocation of Shs. 25 billion. This will be used to support youth starting or expanding their business enterprises. The loan sizes will range between Shs 100,000 to Shs 5 million or 20% of injected equity for youth group investments.
ii. Enterprise Uganda, shall undertake Youth Entrepreneurial Training Programme to instill business management skills among the youth, to enable them join the job market or create their own enterprises. I have allocated a total of Shs 3.5 billion for this purpose.
iii. Enterprise Uganda shall also undertake Business Development Skills clinics in collaboration with the private sector and Uganda Small Scale Industries Association (USSIA), with special focus on imparting technical skills to youth, using non-formal vocational training programmes. I have allocated an additional Shs. 1 billion specifically for this purpose.
iv. Dedicated work spaces will be established in markets starting in Kampala, in which youth and other small scale manufacturers under the Job Stimulus programme will undertake manufacturing and other processing activity. I am proposing to allocate Shs 16.5 billion for this purpose.
108. Madam Speaker, the implementation of these measures will be closely monitored and fine tuned to achieve the required outcome of increased employment.

Human Resource Development

Education
109. Madam Speaker, I am allocating an additional Shs. 115.9 billion to the Education sector. Emphasis will be placed on building on the successes of Universal Primary and Secondary Education by giving priority to the following interventions in the next financial year:-
i. Extension of free Universal education to A-level and Business, Technical, Vocational and Education Training (BTVET) beginning in January 2012, for which I have allocated an additional Shs. 58.8 billion. In addition, there will be scaling up of Universal Secondary Education with an additional allocation of Shs. 20.3 billion for the capitation grant;
ii. Provision of Shs. 9.2 billion for the necessary physical infrastructure and Shs. 12.9 billion for personnel cost to address quality constraints at all levels of the education sector as well as Shs. 1.8 billion for enhanced inspection of schools ;
iii. Support private sector vocational institutions with equipment, key staff and salaries as well as enhanced inspection of schools; and
iv. Development and retention of a pool of national expertise in the emerging mining, oil and gas industries. This will be done through undertaking quick skills mapping and supporting the existing vocational and tertiary institutions to start or expand programmes for the required skills.

110. Madam Speaker, the legal and institutional framework for the proposed Student Loan Scheme for University Education will be completed in the course of next financial year and will be implemented in the future.

Health

111. Madam Speaker, whereas we have registered substantial progress, our health care delivery system still face many challenges ranging from inadequate infrastructure, staff shortages and low remuneration and general mismanagement of facilities. To consolidate the progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in the health sector, Government will prioritise the following interventions in the next financial year:
i. Increased funding for drugs worth Shs. 96 Billion;
ii. Increased attention to Maternal and Reproductive Health for which I am proposing to allocate a total of Shs. 24 billion;
iii. The rehabilitation of Mulago National Referral Hospital together with the construction of Maternal and Child Health centre; and the
iv. Construction of new District Hospitals in Kawempe and Makindye divisions of Kampala.

Water

112. Madam Speaker, in the water sector, emphasis will be put on provision of new water point sources in rural areas, rehabilitation of existing sources, and provision of small piped schemes for Rural Growth Centres. In particular, 750 shallow wells, 910 deep wells, 36 piped water systems and 45 valley tanks will be constructed at the Local Government level during the year. This is in addition to ongoing work on gravity flow systems and piped water systems in Kaabong, Namalu, Abim, Bukedea and Kapchorwa which have already begun.

113. Further emphasis will be placed on improving efficiency in the Water sector. This will involve increased monitoring of performance to ensure the delivery of agreed targets.

Improving Government Effectiveness in Service Delivery
114. Madam Speaker, I am proposing several measures to improve the effectiveness of Government in order to deliver quality services. In order to re-focus public service efforts for delivery of quality outputs there is need to reduce wastage, laxity, and limited responsiveness. I am proposing the following actions:-
i. Effect cuts of 50 percent on advertising budgets for all Ministries and Agencies;
ii. Effect cuts of 30% on the budget for allowances, workshops and seminars, travel inland and abroad, fuel and vehicle maintenance, printing and stationary, welfare and entertainment, books, periodicals and newspapers, special meals and the purchase of furniture for selected Ministries and Agencies; and
iii. Freeze the purchase of Government vehicles, except for critical areas such as hospitals, police and the security services.
iv. Conduct an immediate forensic audit of Government salaries, wages and pensions to establish credibility

115. Madam Speaker, an estimated Shs. 40 billion has been raised from the above measures and will be allocated to service delivery infrastructure.

116. In addition, the following measures will be implemented, in collaboration with the ministries of Public Service, Works and Transport and the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets (PPDA) Authority to improve service delivery:-
i. Hold Accounting Officers, including Chief Administrative Officers personally responsible for the delivery of performance targets, once funding has been made available to them.
ii. Implement performance contracts for top civil servants up to the level of Heads of Departments to strengthen performance management and enhance transparency and accountability;
iii. Enforce use of unit costing for all government procurement, against which mis-procurement will occur if reserve prices are not met; and
iv. Enforce use of government-procured equipment in the maintenance of national district and community access roads, with operational financing from the Uganda Road Fund and Uganda National Road Authority. Any waivers to use private sector contractors will first have to be approved by the Treasury.

. Constitutional Self Accounting Bodies
117. Madam Speaker, the budgetary proposals of the following Self Accounting Bodies have been submitted in compliance with Article 155(2) of the Constitution.
. Courts of Judicature
. Electoral Commission
. Inspectorate of Government
. Parliamentary Commission
. Uganda Law Reform Commission
. Uganda Human Rights Commission
. Uganda Aids Commission
. National Planning Authority
. Office of the Auditor General

118. In accordance with Article 155(3) of the Constitution, Government has made recommendations on these proposals. I hereby lay both the budgetary proposals and the recommendations of Government before this august House, as required by the Constitution.

119. In order for me to submit a fully financed National Budget for your consideration in accordance with Article 155(1) of the Constitution, the budget provisions of these Self Accounting bodies are in accordance with the resource envelope conveyed to them in the course of budget preparation, including the presentation of the National Budget Framework Paper to Parliament, in accordance with the Budget Act 2001.

. Taxation and Revenue Measures
120. Madam Speaker, the objective for our tax system is twofold:
i. Stability and predictability: and
ii. Efficiency of the tax system

121. The technical amendments I will be proposing are accordingly meant to meet the objective of the tax system.

122. I will also announce decisions agreed upon at the East African Community Pre- Budget Meeting of Ministers of Finance held on 7th May 2011 in Kampala.

Income Tax

Application of royalty
123. Madam Speaker, payments made as consideration for internet broadcasting. This has been necessitated by innovations in technology I am proposing to amend the definition of royalty to include The details are contained in the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2011

Transfer Pricing Regulations
124. Madam Speaker, as the Ugandan economy gets integrated in global economy including set up of multinationals, the issue of transfer pricing demands urgent attention. I have therefore finalized transfer pricing regulations to ensure that prices charged between associated entities for the transfer of goods, services and intangible property are in line with the arm’s length principle. The Regulations will be gazetted and will be effective 1st July 2011.

Value Added Tax
Treatment of Imported Services
125. Madam Speaker, Hon Members, I propose to make clear the VAT treatment on imported services VAT will apply to imported services where the recipient of the services is a taxable person. The details are contained in the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill.

Supply of Solar Energy:
126. Madam Speaker, to promote clean and alternative energy, I propose to make the supply of solar energy VAT exempt. This policy is to encourage supply of solar power to consumers in rural areas by commercial solar producers. The details are contained in the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2011

Supply of Ambulances:
127. I propose to remove VAT on ambulances to facilitate the transportation of patients to hospitals and other health facilities. The details are contained in the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2011

Stamps Act
128. Madam Speaker, I propose to remove the stamp duty applicable on securities given in procuring small loans in order to lessen the burden of borrowing to small income earners whose threshold shall not exceed 2 million shillings. Details will be contained in the stamp duty (Amendment) Bill, 2011

Excise Tariff Act

Excise Duty on sugar:
129. Madam Speaker, I propose to reduce the excise duty on sugar by 50 percent given that sugar is a key welfare item in many households in Uganda. This will lead to revenue loss of about Shs 8.5 billion. The details are contained in the Excise Tariff (Amendment) Bill 2011

Excise Duty on Kerosene:
130. Madam Speaker, to provide relief to households from the burden of increased kerosene prices, I propose to repeal the excise duty on kerosene. This will lead to a revenue loss of about Shs 12 billion. The details are contained in the Excise Duty (amendment) Bill 2011

Levy on Hides and Skins
131. Madam Speaker, Government introduced a levy on the export of raw hides and skins. The levy was intended to support and encourage value addition in Uganda. To achieve Government’s objective the levy is being revised from US Dollars 0.4 per kilo to US Dollars 0.8 per kilo On exports and outward processing of raw hides and skins

Investment Trader Regulations
132. As part of the effort to streamline and improve tax administration I am terminating the Investment trader facility.

Reform of Tax laws
133. Madam Speaker, Government plans to reform the tax laws to ensure consistence with the current economic reality, best practice, regional integration and provide a taxpayer friendly regime. According Government has drafted a Tax Procedure code which will be introduced into Parliament next financial year. Government is also in advanced stages of reviewing the Excise Law, stamp duty law Lotteries and Gaming and Pool Betting Laws.

Decisions Made at the EAC Pre-Budget Consultations by the Ministers of Finance:

134. Madam Speaker, I now turn to the decisions agreed upon during the pre-Budget meeting of the East African Community Ministers of Finance, details of which will be contained in the East African Community (EAC) Gazette:

Remission of Duty on Uganda’s Inputs and Raw Materials:
135. In recognition of the regional economic situation, the Ministers for Finance decided to grant the extension of duty remission to Uganda’s list of raw materials and industrial inputs for another one year.
Road Trucks and Semi-Trailers
136. The Ministers for Finance extended remission of import duty for a period of one year for road tractors for semi-trailers and trucks of carrying capacity of over 20 tonnes. Details are in the East African gazette.

Inputs for Assemblers of Refrigerators and Freezers:
137. In order to encourage value addition and assembling by local entrepreneurs, import taxes on components parts and inputs for assembly of refrigerators and freezers were remitted from 25 percent to 10 percent.

Hoes used in Agriculture
138. To augment local production and encourage food security, import duty on hoes was remitted from 10 percent to 0 percent.

Food Supplements:
139. In order to reduce nutritional deficiencies through use of food supplements, the Ministers reduced the import duty on food supplements from 25 percent to 10 percent.

Premixes
140. To support the Agricultural Sector through reduction of the price of feeds the Ministers decided to remove import duty on premixes used in the manufacture of animal and poultry feeds.

Motor-Cycle Ambulances
141. To encourage use of appropriate and affordable technology in rural areas the Ministers agreed to waive taxes on motor-cycle ambulances.

Double Tax Treaty
142. The Double Taxation Agreement among the East African Community (EAC) Partner States was concluded. In accordance with the Ratification of Treaties Act I am laying before Parliament, the East African Community (EAC) Double Taxation Agreement to conclude the ratification process. The Double Taxation Agreement will promote cross-border investments among East African Community (EAC) Partner States..

Ratification of the Revised Cotonou Agreement

143. Madam Speaker, the Cotonou Agreement which sets out the development, trade and political cooperation framework between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific States was concluded on 23rd June, 2000 in Cotonou, Benin. The Agreement first revised in 2005, was again revised in 2010. It provides the framework for the European Union’s development funding to Uganda. The Government of Uganda is required under the Ratification of Treaties Act, to table before Cabinet for approval and lay the Revised Agreement before Parliament. I am therefore laying before you, the Revised Agreement for ratification in accordance with the Act.

. Report of Tax Expenditure for Financial Year 2010/11

144. Madam Speaker, Article 152 (2) of the Constitution requires me to periodically report to Parliament on the exercise of powers conferred upon me by any law to waive or vary a tax imposed by that law. This is to report that this fiscal year, I have exercised powers conferred by the Income Tax Act and Value Added Tax Act and waived shillings Three Billion One Hundred Ninety Five Million Nine Hundred Seventy Three Thousand and Five Hundred Forty Seven Only (Shs. 3,195,973,547/=).

145. Madam Speaker, Government has also paid shillings fifteen billion four hundred ninety five million nine hundred forty seven thousand one hundred and twenty five only (Shs 15,495,947,125/=) for Hotel, some Hospitals and Tertiary Institutions inputs and materials and procurement of Non Government Organizations with tax exemption clauses in their agreement.

. Schedule of Indebtedness

Schedule Of Indebtedness
146. Madam Speaker, in accordance with the provision of Section 13 (1) and (2) of the Budget Act 2001, I hereby lay before the House the Statement on:
i. Government’s total external indebtedness as at 31st March, 2011; and
ii. the grants that Government received during financial year 2010/11.

147. With respect to Section 13 (3) of the same Act, Government did not guarantee any new loan during financial year 2010/11.

. Conclusion

148. The Budget strategy and priorities I have presented today seek to stimulate enhanced economic growth by creating an environment for increased economic activity for more Ugandans. A specific focus in the forthcoming year has been placed on the creation of the necessary environment for employment generation. The proposed interventions aim at building lifetime skills for the youth making them not only employable but also entrepreneurs and job creators themselves.

149. Addressing constraints in transport, energy and health and education and improving service delivery, will accord Ugandans a better quality of life. I commend this budget to the people of Uganda and especially the youth, who are our beacon of hope for the future

150. Madam Speaker, I beg to move.

FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY

Not another needless mother's death in Uganda Campaign

2011-05-26T21:53:00.000+03:00

(Press Release) Hundreds of activists in Kampala, Mityana and Arua will mark the first day of an historic Constitutional Court Petition against the Government of Uganda on maternal mortality. In Kampala, health experts, people with HIV, medical students, religious leaders, concerned Ugandans and others will gather at Constitutional Court with signs and banners reading “Not another needless death: Government stop the deaths of mothers now!”

The Petition, Number 16 of 2011, argues that Government non provision of essential services for pregnant mothers and their newborns violates the fundamental obligation of the country to uphold the Constitution and defend, protect and promote the right to health and the right to life.

The Petition highlights the case of Sylvia Nalubowa, a mother in Mityana and Jennifer Anguko, a mother and District Councillor in Arua, both of whom died in childbirth. According to the activists, such cases are commonplace in Uganda. At least 16 women in Uganda die each day in childbirth or soon after—scandalously high levels of maternal mortality considering
Ugandaʼs widely recognized economic growth.

Neighboring countries such as Rwanda and Ethiopia have roughly equivalent gross domestic products as Uganda, but have performed far better in reducing maternal mortality rates. According to the activists, Uganda has lagged behind other countries because the Government has refused to scale up priority investments in the health sector that would save the lives of pregnant mothers.

Major factors that contribute to high direct risk of maternal death in Uganda include births unattended by trained professional health workers, lack of access to emergency obstetric care for responding to hemorrhage and other emergencies, lack of access to quality antenatal care, and lack of access to family planning services.

Lack of access to life-saving HIV treatment and to malaria prevention and treatment are also major contributors to preventable maternal deaths in Uganda. Instead of scaling up investments in these areas, the Government has either flat-lined or reduced its domestic investments.

With increased government investment and leadership, these deaths would stop. “We are fed up with the broken promises of Government that they will provide us with the blood, ambulances, medicines, and health workers that are an expression of our fundamental human rights as Ugandans,” said Mable Kukunda of UNHCO. “Now the matter is in the hands of the Constitutional Court and we are hopeful that the Justices will understand the unacceptable plight that pregnant women face in Uganda.”

Uganda on high Alert for Ebola

2011-05-26T21:38:00.000+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi

Uganda is on high-alert on Ebola following two more deaths suspected to be from the disease. The ministry of Health says two people suffering from high-fever and unexplained bleeding died in Luweero were the first death was reported two weeks ago.

The ministry is also investigating one patient from Katwe in Kasese district who has been reported with signs of Ebola. Uganda has one case of confirmed death since Ebola broke out on May 12,2011 and 19 have been tested at the Uganda Virus Institute, Entebbe. But many more people are being monitored. The suspected districts on high alert for Ebola in Uganda are Luweero, Nakaseke, Nakasongola, Mukono, Kampala and Wakiso.

Ebola isolation camp in Kampala

Rotary and Aga Khan University partner to improve maternal and child health in East Africa

2011-05-16T12:25:00.000+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi

Improvement of maternal and child health in East Africa is the goal of a new strategic partnership between the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International and Aga Khan University (AKU).
Under the partnership, the Rotary Foundation – the charitable arm of Rotary International -- will provide grants to Rotary clubs to establish volunteer teams to support the professional development of nursing faculty at AKU’s East Africa campuses in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
“Our Rotary clubs in East Africa are eager to partner with the top-notch professionals at Aga Khan University to help ensure that mothers and their infants receive the best health care possible,” says Samuel F. Owori, of Kampala, Uganda, a member of the Rotary International Board of Directors.
“This partnership represents an immense contribution to the health and well-being of families throughout our region."
The teams will work with local Rotary clubs and AKU to carry out community service projects linking the classroom lessons to existing clinics and health care programs.
Rotary grants will also fund nursing and midwifery scholarships for students admitted to AKU’s Advanced Nursing Studies (ANS) program. Scholarship recipients will have the opportunity to be mentored through the program by local Rotary clubs.
The Aga Khan University’s ANS program was established in response to requests from East African governments to help upgrade nursing skills and build healthcare human resource capacity in the region.
Through continuing education programs, graduates are able to work in their communities to provide better quality health care services as well as lead policy development at the national level. The result is better-qualified regional healthcare professionals who are helping to build accessible, responsive and sustainable healthcare systems in East Africa.

Rotary Foundation Chair Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar said that the partnership “is an important step toward meeting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals for maternal and child health.”
The UN Millennium Goals call for a 75 percent reduction in maternal deaths -- and a two-thirds reduction in the death rate of children under age five -- by 2015.
The UN says developing countries account for 99 percent of the more than 350,000 women who die each year from complications during pregnancy or childbirth.
In sub-Saharan Africa, a woman’s risk of maternal death is 1 in 30, compared to 1 in 5,600 in developed countries. The same region records the highest childhood mortality rates, with one in seven dying before their fifth birthday. Worldwide, more than 9 million children under 5 die each year.
“This partnership will enable a greater number of qualified students from poor communities to benefit from our programs,” states AKU President Firoz Rasul. “Partnerships such as this one build much needed capacity in the developing world, but more importantly, they enable innovation and the creation of knowledge to address local health problems.”
Rotary International is a global humanitarian service organization, and Aga Khan University (AKU), a private, non-denominational university promoting human development through research, teaching and community service.
AKU is one of nine agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network is a group of private development agencies with mandates ranging from health and education to architecture, culture, microfinance, rural development, disaster reduction, the promotion of private-sector enterprise and the revitalization of historic cities.
Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders who provide humanitarian service and help to build goodwill and peace in the world. There are 1.2 million Rotary members in 34,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas. Rotary clubs have been serving communities worldwide for more than a century.

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China-East Africa Community joint efforts against Counterfeits

2011-03-23T12:05:00.000+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi

Most Chinese goods have a bad repute in east Africa; they are counterfeits, cheap and of low standard but do compete favorably on the market as consumers believe that their quality is at par with the price.
So trade between China and east Africa continues to grow. Data from the Chinese embassy in Uganda, shows that in 2010, the total trade value between China and east Africa states was US$3.89 billion, a 40 percent increase from 2009 principally for hi-tech, electromechanical, textile and agricultural products.
And now the Chinese government says, they intend to increase this trade value, through cracking down on the production and trading of counterfeits, which are on the increase in the east African Community (EAC) market.
Already, China has imposed punitive measures on its exporters of counterfeits into the African market that are as harsh as death. And, China is counting on the EAC governments to partner with it.
“Through our joint efforts, I hope there would be no China made counterfeits in the EAC market. I also hope more highly cost effective Chinese products will be brought to the East African market for the well-being of the people here,” said Zou Xiaoming, the economic and commercial counselor at the Chinese embassy in Uganda.
To stop the counterfeits, heavy fines and death for the offenders have been imposed. For instance China says that; ‘a company found exporting counterfeits to Africa would have its illegal gains confiscated; a fine ranging from 50 percent to two times the value of the counterfeit would be imposed and it would be banned from exporting business in the future.’
Also the direct manager of the counterfeits would be charged with a criminal offence and if found guilty, sentenced to several years in prison, life imprisonment or even a death penalty according to the counterfeit value and effect caused by the counterfeits.
This move comes after increased complaints from east African states about counterfeits on the market made in China.
But to safe guard its share of the African market where Chinese investment hit $9.3 billion in 2009, China further wants to ‘safeguard African consumer rights and welfare as well as keep a good reputation of Chinese products’.
With a syndicated joint action operation running for five months in all its east African related embassies, China says the special intensive action ends this month but the mechanism to fight counterfeits would keep going forever.

But east African traders remain skeptical about China’s commitment to fight counterfeits in the region. To most of them, although east African governments have redress mechanism for Chinese exporters that are cheated, there have been no reciprocal measures by China.
“When Ugandan importers go to China and they do not pay, we have a platform for redress but the commercial division of the Chinese government is not vigilant enough to help us when we buy poor products from China,” said Issa Sekitto, the spokesperson Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA).
The resigned culture of the east African consumer, uncooperative manufacturers and the lack of governments’ vigilance and enforcement still keeps counterfeits on the EAC market, traders in Uganda said.
“China manufactures specifically for the US and Africa market. When you go to China, they sell you goods for the ‘Ugandan market’, which are of very low quality. If they are committed to stopping counterfeits they should stop them at base,” said a trader in Kampala importing Chinese cheap goods.
The counterfeits market is too big with so many lobbyists protecting it, ‘I doubt that China has the capacity to fight it. I think they want to hear what we say and capitalize on it but the can not stop counterfeits.’
Well, China, seems to be committed especially with the ‘joint effort’ it is seeking with the east African governments and its aspiration to court Africa for its raw materials.
“Recently, we paid visits to several governments and organizations, which expressed sincere willingness for cooperation. Right now, we are working on joint action mechanism arrangements, which should include information sharing, standard harmonizing, enterprises monitoring and capacity building,” said Xiaoming.
The unwillingness by east African manufacturers who remain silent and fight the counterfeits battle ‘underground’ or those that label their goods with ‘made in China’ labels also remains obscure.
“When you talk to manufacturers they remain silent because they fear it would affect their goods. China should have registered agents in the east African market to enforce their trade marks,” said Beatrice Tinka, the director communications at the Uganda Allied Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (UACCIA).
“If we treated the problem from the source, (China) then east Africa would have reduced the problem of product production,” said Sekitto.
According to Sekitto the EAC states are not at the same level so China should stop as much as possible the products that come in the market because it is only China that has the capacity to stop counterfeits.
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This was the printed version of the story:
http://allafrica.com/stories/201103211217.html?viewall=1

Uganda should have transparent legislation in extractive industries

2011-03-21T14:20:00.000+03:00

By Esther Nakkazi
Future oil payments made to Uganda may be made public as civil society campaigners mount pressure in the UK and the rest of Europe, for transparency legislation in extractive industries. Last week over 200 activists from Uganda wrote to Prime Minister Cameron telling him “the only losers [from the law] would be those who plan to steal the revenue.
Uganda has so far cloaked its nascent oil industry in secrecy, keeping the Production Sharing Agreements (PSA) it signed with participating oil companies under wraps despite the information Bill laws that would allow access.
European leaders have in recent weeks lent their backing to the law with President Sarkozy of France and Chancellor Osborne of the UK both arguing that Europe must now act on this issue.
In the UK Parliament, two weeks ago, a backbench bill was introduced suggesting all oil, gas and mineral companies listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) would have to start reporting their payments to all governments where they operate.
LSE has more than 80 extractive companies listed, representing more than 1 trillion pounds of capital. Tullow oil, Uganda’s main operator in the extractives industry is listed on the LSE.
Civil society activists argue that if legally binding measures for transparency in Europe and Uganda were passed; there would be a big impact in the information available to Ugandan citizens to demand for proper use of oil resources.
“Having access to this information challenges vested interests. Ultimately it is in the interest of all our citizens that there is access to this information,” said Winnie Ngabiirwe, the executive Director, Global Rights Alert and Chairperson, Publish What You Pay – Uganda.
Dickens Kamugisha, CEO, African Institute of Energy Governance says everything in the oil industry has been done in secrecy despite the fact that there exists the access to information laws.
“If transparency rules come in place, they will enhance the desired public debate and enable citizens to make decisions based on the information available.”
The US, already has legislation to force extractive industry firms listed on the New York Stock Exchange engaged in the extractive industries abroad, to be more transparent. This came in the form of the Dodd-Frank Act passed last July. However, as Tullow are not NYSE listed the law will not currently impact Uganda. CNOOC and Total are listed in the US and would have to report their payments if as expected they enter Uganda formally later this year.
The US listed firms, engaged in extractive industries, are required by law to report how much they pay to governments on a country and project basis, in an annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“The US passed a law but for countries like Uganda this law can only help if it is also implemented in the EU,” said Albert Charles Okello Oduman, a legislator in Uganda.
Some companies listed in the US like China’s CNOOC and Petrochina will shortly begin disclosing under the law, but also there are those that do it on a voluntary basis like Talisman Energy in Canada, Statoil Hydro in Norway and Newmont Mining in the US.
Civil society activists under the ‘Publish what you pay’ coalition are at the forefront of this campaign. Joe Powell, a policy analyst at coalition member ONE, said, “Transparency is the first step to better oil governance in Uganda. If Europe passes this law it will empower people with information needed to hold the Government’s leadership accountable.”
Some companies have opposed the law. Peter Voser, CEO of Shell, argued at a recent conference that it would undermine the national sovereignty of countries where natural resources exist. However, Henry Banyenzaki MP, Chair of Uganda’s Parliamentary Forum on Oil and Gas disputed this claim. In a letter to Voser seen by the East African says: “This oil belongs to the people, not to political and business elites. Sovereignty can only be enhanced by empowering people with the type of information which the Dodd-Frank Act will provide”.
Africa is well endowed with resources that do not seem to be beneficial to it. Data from the BP statistical Review of World Energy 2010 shows that, for over two decades, proven oil reserves in Africa have increased by 112 percent while the total value of known deposits is $40 trillion.
Also, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the developing countries is largely from the extractive industry, which if well managed can have a transformative effect on Africa.
NB: This story has also been published in The EastAfrican of March 21-27