Uganda: What causes Jiggers?

By Esther Nakkazi

In the eastern part of Uganda, live the Basoga, a Bantu group who speak Lusoga. Lately, the media have been awash with the Basoga being infected with jiggers. Recently, a three months baby died of jiggers according to the local press.

The mystery of the cause of jiggers has been politicised and even exaggerated. While the medics attribute jiggers to poor hygiene especially for people sharing accommodation with animals, economists say it is due to chronic poverty - after all research shows that the highest poverty density in Uganda is in Busoga.

The politicians have blamed jiggers on political discrimination in the area by the ruling government. The religious people have said God is angry with the Basoga so the jiggers are a punishment while traditionists are convinced that wizards are active in that area. Some myths have suggested that the jiggers attack mentally retarded people.

Now the environmentalists headed by (Dr. Afunaduula) say we need an environmental approach to eradicate them. However, in the old times, even today the herbalists recommend that after extraction, they put red chilies (pepper) in the wound.

In an effort to eradicate them many volunteers have been to the jigger infested areas and their approach is to help extract them from feet, hands, and bodies of course with cameras recording their good works. But nothing has worked.

Although floods of people showed up to be treated, some schools refused their pupils to go saying it would bring shame to the school!

At the campaign led by the deputy speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, a Musoga who comes from eastern Uganda, villagers were treated and taught good hygiene practices like smearing cow dung on the walls and floor of their mud houses.

Cleary something needs to be done about these jiggers killing people in this century! But it is a question of good hygiene and that does not need much debate and unfounded myths. 

Everyone has a role to achieve Millennium Development Goals

By Esther Nakkazi

Africa could be on track to achieve most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) but some of its gains have been eroded by climate change, armed conflicts and unmet commitments for resources by the international community.

But this year, which marks five years to 2015, the target year for MDGs, shows that the goals are attainable though the pace of progress needs to be increased.
Recently, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the development of a Joint Action Plan to be launched this month at the MDG review Summit to intensify the global effort to meet the goals.

So this September, world leaders will meet to agree on strategies and actions to meet the Goals, which represents human needs and basic rights that every individual around should enjoy.
“The world posses the resources and knowledge to ensure that even the poorest countries, and others held back by disease, geographic isolation or civil strife, can be empowered to achieve the MDGs,” said Ban Ki-Moon.

Ban Ki-Moon says meeting the goals is everyone’s business as falling short would multiply the dangers of the world.

In Africa, there are improvements made to attain the MDGs but they are slow while the hard won gains are eroded by food and economic crises as well as climate change.
Experts say Africa could have a chance to reach the target for access to clean water and it is still on track to achieve the MDG target of cutting the rate of extreme poverty in half by 2015, says the UN 2010 report.

Robust growth in the first half of the decade reduced the number of people in Africa living on less than $1.25 a day from 1.8 billion in 1990 to 1.4 billion, while the poverty rate dropped from 46 to 27 percent.

“Many countries are moving forward, including some of the poorest, demonstrating that setting bold, collective goals in the fight against poverty yields results,” says the report.
At the global level, the poverty rate is expected to fall to 15 percent by 2015, just about 920 million people living under the international poverty line, half the number in 1990.

Africa has also made strides in getting children into primary schools with enrollment reaching 89 percent. The 2010 UN report shows that the total number of children out of school decreased from 106 to 69 million in 1999-2008, almost half of the number of these in sub-Saharan Africa.

According to experts from UNESCO, this is encouraging because education is the single one intervention that is likely to have a multiplier effect on progress across all the MDGs.

One year of schooling can increase a person’s earnings by 10 percent and lift their average annual GDP by 0.37 percent, according to a UNESCO report. The girl child- has benefited from this more, as overall more girls are now in school today in Africa with at least three million more children enrolled in school in Ethiopia and more than double in Benin compared with the number in 2000.

Increase in school enrollment has been aided by the abolition of school fees for instance in Burundi, a threefold increase to 99 percent in primary school enrollment was realized in 2008. Tanzania doubled its enrollment ratio over the same period.

Strong interventions have also been made in addressing HIV/AIDS, malaria and child health for instance increasing the number of people receiving anti-retroviral drugs.
According to the 2010 MDGs report, comprehensive and correct knowledge of HIV increased by 10 percentage points or more among women aged 15-24 years.

Between 2000-2008 Rwanda reported 50 percent and more in knowledge about HIV prevention among women and similar progress was made by Namibia.

But there are two MDGs that seem to be unattainable although commitment with resources to address them has been made.

MDGs 4 and 5 which call for reductions in the number of deaths among children under 5 by two thirds, and reducing maternal deaths by three-quarters by 2015. Africa will need $32 million for interventions to attain them.

Although under five-year-old mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa declined by 22 percent since 1990, this rate is still insufficient to meet the target.
Studies show that all the countries with under five mortality rates exceeding100 per 1,000 live births in 2008 are in sub-Saharan Africa except Afghanistan.

Less than half the women giving birth in Africa get skilled health care when giving birth, but disparities also exists in rich and poor households, says Sha Zukang, the UN under secretary General for economic and social affairs.

According to the UN 2010 report women in rich households are 1.7 times more likely to visit a skilled health worker at least once before birth than the poorest women. Also contraceptive use among educated women is four times higher than those with no education as access is a big problem.

In Africa for every woman who dies, at least 20 other suffer injuries, infections and disabilities, like obstetric fistula but Countdown to 2015 report emphasizes that almost all maternal deaths are preventable.

This is because complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death for women of childbearing age, which can all be dealt with. Countdown to 2015, a global scientific and advocacy movement in its 2010 report, found that 49 out of the 68 high burden countries are not on track to meet MDG 4 on child health. While Botswana, Egypt, Eritrea, Malawi and Morocco are on track to achieving improved maternal health.

The Millennium Declaration represents the most important promise ever made to the world’s most vulnerable people, says Zukang. Accelerated action needs to be done. But it is for each one of us to play a role to attain the MDGs.

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Tweeter pays money in Africa

Last week was a break through, as user of social media in East Africa, Uganda to be able to earn from a new tool Twitter. I keep a twitter account @Nakkazi, but had not thought much about mastering the skill of tweeting until last week.

The East African Internet Governance Forum (EAIGF) 11th to 13th held a meeting in Kampala, Uganda and Maureen Agena a citizen journalist and I, were invited to tweet and blog.
On the tweeter account @#EA_IGF and the blog name http://eaigf-uganda.blogspot.com (check out the stories and tweets) we tweeted away for three days.

The pay was not bad at all, but what is interesting to note in my opinion is, was it because it was an Internet gurus gathering? Almost all the 100 or so participants knew about twitter and were following on the screen in the conference room or on their laptops.

It would also be interesting to have a business model to offer the client a full package with twitter, blog stories with pictures, pod casts and video clips. Let us see if the market can respond to the offer and what prices they would be able to afford so we get in business.

British Barristers urge African states to stand together to defeat ICC

By Esther Nakkazi

During the Kampala African Union summit, i saw many colleagues hurrying to some place. Naturally, i decided to follow the train and there, a press conference on Sudan President Al-Bashir addressed by two London based Barristers and a Sudanese Human Rights official. Here are the excerpts of the press conference

Plans to lodge a complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the indictment of President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir by British lawyers are under way. The barristers with Temple Gardens Chambers said they are representing over 8 million people from the Sudanese Workers Union in this case.

They want to challenge the international court over Al-Bashir’s immunity as a serving head of state and if it is lawful for the UN Security Council to refer to the ICC a non-member state like Sudan.

“ We think that these issues which now seem to concern only Sudan may have wider consequences for Africa,” said Geoffrey Nice a barrister with Temple Gardens Chambers, London at the sidelines of the AU summit

The lawyers advised that if other African states behaved like Chad they could stand together and say ‘NO’ to the ICC on the arrest of a serving head of state.

The lawyers were attending the AU Summit in Kampala drumming up support for the AU leaders to say ‘No’ to the ICC even if they emphasized they were not against the ICC and justice. 'Justice should not be selective.'

“If there are countries that think like Chad, they could gather together and say we regard Bashir to be having immunity until his presidential term ends,” said Rodney Nixon, another barrister with Temple Gardens Chambers, London.

They advised that a grouping by African States could carry more weight and the case could be lodged with the International Centre for Justice (ICJ).

The ICC should have a provision so that States should observe other head’s of States immunity and take a clear position whether they are signed up or not.

They warned that unless this is made clear, it would affect relations between states in Africa.

The lawyers said they are collecting sufficient evidence, which they have already worked through to challenge the prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

They also have details of the victims of the genocide and have presented them with legal options and they are challenging the ICC on allegations of Al-Bashir committing genocide.

“We are coming up with steps to challenge the sufficiency of the genocide evidence. We have recognized the crimes, it is not the ICC to deal with it,” said Nice.

But they want the case to be tried under the Ocampo regime so that they test the system and also because they anticipate that the next prosecutor will come from Africa, which will be an even bigger challenge.

The African prosecutor will be under pressure to try all these leaders that Ocampo fails to prosecute, said Nice.

Mohamed Ansari, the president of the African Crisis Relief Centre, a Sudanese non-governmental organization argued that there could be no definitive ruling on the case before there is sufficient evidence.

“There should be a desire to get to the bottom of this – these things are not be looked at critically? If nothing were done, then it would get greater strength,” said Ansari.

African Union Summit

It has been a long week of tight security, many interviews and press conferences at the African Union summit in Munyonyo. As a science writer, it has been an interesting time to see that at least some attention is being devoted to health- maternal health and children development.

For this week, I have been going to Munyonyo, it could have been at least 10 security checks per day. That makes it 70 in a week! If there are any health effects these machines cause I could become a victim.

Well brother leader jetted in on Saturday, causing a traffic jam of about 2 hours in the small city of Kampala. I saw some boda boda riders wearing t-shirts with Gaddaffi’s picture. The extra long convoy, big bill boards welcoming him and the fight between his detailed security with Ugandan security is not new but typical of his visits to African countries.

Agenda setting: many international organizations, civil society and African musicians are in Kampala to persuade African leaders to devote at least 15% of national budgets to health. It is expected that this will not be businesses as usual of pegging their signatures onto documents and forgetting them.

This time, with the impressive turn up of African leaders for the Kampala summit and the many voices involved we only hope that the matter is taken seriously.

But of course, everyone is aware that African leaders are the least interested in health. If the agenda were to be set by them, the summit would just be discussing Somalia, Al-Shabaab and Sudan’s Bashir.

Precisely, that is where the hot discussion are except that big brother donor is watching and there is prompting. It is interesting to see how tempers rise when the issue is discussed!

Electricity could control Uganda's high birth rates?

I once sat in a workshop and one official from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development told us that finally they are ready to tackle Uganda’s high fertility/birth rates (6.7 per woman) not by using family planning security but by providing electricity to rural areas.

It has been a debate,  no one has ever proven it scientifically but it is said that boredom is one of the reasons that the rural folk engage in birth giving activities. With all the myths about using family planning it is envisaged that if they were kept busy say with the youth provided with Internet then they would be engaged and birth rates would go down.

Now, it is official that by the end of FY 2008/09, rural electrification coverage increased to 6%, up from 1% in 2001. The overall access to electricity in Uganda also increased from 5% in 2001 to 15% in 2008.

It would be interesting if there were any such research done to see the impact of electricity on rural births. Unfortunately, we don’t have the data for places that now have electricity. The study would control for other factors including family planning security and then see the impact of electricity on births. I would love to read such research.

Water Quality needs Africa's attention

Esther Nakkazi

In Africa maybe we should listen more and utilise our scientists. African scientists under the umbrella of the Pan Africa Chemistry Network (PACN) released a report on water quality, which is even more important than water quantity. http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/-/2558/910540/-/pf99xoz/-/index.html

Water quality is important but not much attention is given. Below is the story and the link above of the published story.

Water quality in sub-Saharan Africa is declining, presenting a worrying picture of toxicity, yet it is failing to raise the same profile as water quantity in Africa.

In sub-Saharan Africa, most water resources are showing unacceptable levels of toxic substances, heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and biological contaminants.

These are originating from especially domestic wastewater and local industries but the amounts of the pollutants although high are only estimated due to lacking of water quality monitoring.

“Water quality is deteriorating, adaptation and planning of water resources is difficult, as many African countries don’t have water quality monitoring programmes,” says a report by the Pan Africa Chemistry Network (PACN) released last month.

This makes water pollution statistics hard to come by due to scarce analytical laboratories, while there is substantial under-investment as well as absence of a structured framework for water governance.

However, scientists working within Africa have the knowledge, expertise and potential to help formulate and implement sustainable water strategies to maintain quality.

This can be done through increasing Africa’s capacity in analytical chemistry, to support chemical monitoring and water management activities to collect data through centers of excellence.

The PACN through its report ‘Africa’s Water Quality: A chemical Science perspective’ of March 2010 alerts African governments to implement preventive policies based on scientific evidence and to raise the profile of water quality in policy agenda, so that it is considered alongside water quantity.

The PACN was set up by the Royal Society of Chemistry, with a focus on MDGs aimed at advancing the chemical sciences across Africa. It represents an innovative approach to working with universities, schools, scientists and teachers. It is also engaging with chemical societies throughout Africa and the Federation of African Chemical Societies.

The PACN suggests increased establishment of ‘Centres of Excellence’ in analytical chemistry staffed with African scientists, which will play a role in the evaluation and monitoring of water quality. With the support of Syngenta, regional hubs in Ethiopia and Kenya have been set up.

“The centres should play a role in facilitating networking activities between African and non-African scientists in water research and management and ensuring that water quality data is shared,” notes the report.

“In the light of climate change and massive population expansion, Africa’s scientists must play a vital role in meeting water quality challenges.”

In 2009, Africa’s population exceeded one billion and increases at a rate of 2.4 percent annually. Overall, 341 million people lack access to clean drinking water, and 589 million have no access to adequate sanitation, which means it will be unlikely that the 2015 MDGs will be met.

Public Health experts say access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation, including toilets, wastewater treatment and recycling affects a country’s developmental progress in terms of human health, education and gender equality.

Records show that about a half of all patients occupying African hospital beds suffer from water-borne illnesses due to lack of access to clean water and sanitation, which costs sub-Saharan 5 percent of GDP per year.

Water-borne diseases like typhoid, cholera, and dysentery are among the major causes of mortality and morbidity in Africa, spread by microbiological pollutants. After all, 75 percent of Africa’s drinking water comes from groundwater and is often used with little or no purification.

“A detailed knowledge of water quality is essential so that drinking water can be adequately treated and the contamination of its sources can be prevented,” says the report.

Chemical contaminants can also cause disease, developmental problems and can adversely affect agricultural yields and industrial processes.

But in comparison to quality, Africa has quantity, abundant water resources although not evenly distributed across the continent, and rainfall patterns are increasingly unpredictable due to climate change.

Africa has an abundance of water; it has 17 rivers, each with catchments over 100,000 km2, more than 160 lakes larger than 27 km2. Rainfall too is plentiful, with Africa’s annual average precipitation level comparable to that of Europe and North America.

But there are disparities in water availability, for instance about 50 percent of Africa’s total water resources are concentrated within the River Congo basin.

DR Congo therefore has the highest available freshwater per capita at 250,000 m3 per capita per year. In contrast, Burundi and Kenya have only around 840 and 950 m3 freshwater per capita per year, respectively.

The report points out that the disparity in water resources across Africa means that a quarter of all people are experiencing water stress, measured between 1000 and 1500 m3 per capita per year. And with populations increasing, water scarcity is emerging as a major development challenge for many African countries.

Projections show the situation will worsen by 2025, that many countries will suffer water scarcity and stress. Furthermore, almost all sub-Saharan African countries will be below the
level at which water supply is enough for all.

The report is from a 2009 Sustainable Water Conference held by the PACN, hosted by the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and sponsored by the RSC and Syngenta.

The findings and recommendations contained within this report represent the views of the 180 scientists and practitioners that attended this conference from 14 different countries in Africa, as well as the UK, Switzerland, Colombia and Uruguay.

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