Nutrition experts warn that the continued the feeding of children and pregnant mothers with none nutritional foods will impact negatively on the country’s economy and health living of the population. The nutrition specialist at Jinja regional hospital, Toko Mansuru says  that most Ugandans have failed to provide their children and themselves with nutritious foods but instead opt to feed on foods that they come across which has caused malnutrition among most Ugandan children. He says that foods which are not with nutrition  developed  severe conditions like acute malnutrition thus resulting into serious deficiencies among them being diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity for those who are over fed, cancers among other diseases which are expensive to treat at health facilities.

Meanwhile, Alex Kisembo the marketing director, RECO industries, a company that manufactures fortified foods which are given to persons who are malnourished says that its better for Ugandans to always feed on a balanced diet than just eating for the sake of getting satisfied. Kisembo adds  that to avoid such  conditions they should eat fortified foods so as they do not spend over three months in hospital. He further calls for a combined effort and strategies from all government  departments and agencies to expeditiously address the issue of malnutrition among Ugandan children if this burden is to be solved.

The post Children and pregnant women facing mulnutrition first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Photo: Echwalu Photography

Malaria is a mass killer that every family in Africa dreads. In 2013 statistics showed that about 3.2 billion people – almost half of the world’s population – were at risk of malaria. There were about 198 million malaria cases and an estimated 584 000 malaria deaths; of these 90%  occured in sub-Saharan Africa. This is according to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics that continue to state that pregnant women are at high risk of dying from the complications of severe malaria. Malaria is also a cause of spontaneous abortion, premature delivery, stillbirth and severe maternal anaemia, and is responsible for about one third of preventable low-birth-weight babies.

Pregnant women are more susceptible than the general population to malaria. However, there is good news on the malaria front: researchers at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), working with colleagues of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Kenya and USA, and from the Kenya Medical Research Institution have found that a new drug may be more effective at preventing malaria in pregnant woman, especially where there is resistance to current treatments.

The study noted that WHO currently recommends that women in areas of stable malaria transmission receive intermittent preventative treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) with the antimalarial drug sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), however high levels of resistance from the malaria parasite to this drug threatens its efficacy. This study looked at two alternatives to the recommended treatment strategy, intermittent screening with malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and treatment of RDT-positive women with the new drug dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (ISTp-DP); and intermittent preventative treatment with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (IPTp-DP). It was found that there were more instances of malaria with ISTp-DP compared to the existing IPTp-SP strategy, however there was a much lower instance of malaria in the IPTp-DP treated group.

This equated to an 84% reduction in the incidence of clinical malaria during the pregnancy, a 68% reduction in the risk of malaria infection at delivery and a 22% lower risk of anemia at delivery. IPTp-DP was also associated with up to 75% lower risk of stillbirths and early infant mortality than with SP. The drug was safe and very well tolerated by pregnant women.

Malaria in pregnancy remains a significant public health problem, and in areas of high resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine it is clear that an alternative treatment is needed. Our study showed that test and treat approaches are not a suitable alternative, at least not with the current generation of rapid diagnostic tests which still miss many infections, however it is a positive sign that prevention with the new drug dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine fared well in the study, and could be a promising alternative to SP following further investigation. – Senior author on the study and head of the Malaria in Pregnancy (MiP) Consortium, Professor Feiko ter Kuile.

With this study, the good news of pregnancy can be enjoyed be African women because the fear of malaria would be reduced.

The post New drug may be more effective at preventing malaria in pregnant women first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Food poisoning is an acute intestinal illness that results from eating food that contains harmful chemicals some of which are bacterial and others viral.

Our food can be contaminated at any stage, be it harvesting, production, processing, storage and or cooking, as Dr. George Wamuyu, the Child Health and Nutrition adviser at the Regional Centre for Quality Health Care says. Dr. Wamuyu says that food poisoning may come as a result of under-cooked meat, eating raw vegetables, taking unboiled water, and or non-pasteurised milk.

Even if one cooks the food properly, food poisoning may occur if the food is placed on dirty utensils or cutting boards. Note that all foods contain bacteria. Even food itself may produce high levels of poisonous chemicals that trigger food poisoning.

The Symptoms of food poisoning depend on the type of toxins. These include nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Children, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases are prone to food poisoning. The condition can be treated, according to Dr. Wamuyu, by antibiotics, and it is advisable to avoid dairy products  when suffering from food poisoning.

Ends

The post How to protect yourself against food poisoning first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Previously, health centers IIs have been handling only general illness and primary health care.

The announcement comes as the country joins the rest of the world to commemorate the safe mother hood day tomorrow in Kyenjonjo districts.

The commissioner clinical services at the ministry of health, Dr Jasinto Amandwa says they want to ensure that Health centres IIs have adequate midwives and equipment for effective operation.

Dr Amamdwa adds that the main objective is to reduce maternal mortality rates in rural and hard to reach areas.

In a related development, the reproductive health advisor at the World Health Organization Dr Olive Sentumbwe is calling for male involvement in promotion of safe mother hood.

The post Health Centre IIs to handle maternal care first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Other causes of cleft lip are vitamin deficiency and taking poor medication, and consumption of large amount of alcohol.

Exposure to smoking environment in early pregnancy, exposure to x-rays at an early stage of pregnancy may also predispose the unborn baby to the condition of cleft lip.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) so advises pregnant women to be careful.

The post Causes of cleft lip first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Pumpkins are rich in carotene; an antioxidant helps to detoxify the body. They also provides energy to vulnerable groups of people such as babies, the sick, pregnant women and old people because of the calories they contain.

The consumer gains 24 calories. For the best results, pumpkins should be steamed because food retains nutrients when steamed.

Pumpkin also contains antioxidant cld CAROTENOID and BETE-CRYPTOXANTHIN. This helps to lower the risk of lunge cancer in smokers; they are also good for weight management because they don’t contain fat.

The post How to reduce cancer risks with pumpkins first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Terrible! Uganda government is set to fine women and girls who give birth at their homes. The move is intended to quash the trend of women who shun hospitals during pregnancy.

The leaders of Adjumani district in northern Uganda explain that the law has been made because many women experience unsafe deliveries in their homes.

According to the new law, the women and their male partners would both be penalized. However, sections of Ugandans have criticised the move saying that some pregnant women walk over 30 miles to reach nearby health facilities.

Nixon Owole, the district chairperson of Adjumani says the law has been put in place to force women to utilise the health facilities. He added that the law is meant to promote safe deliveries in the country.

The post Uganda to fine women for giving birth first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Today in history! It was like today when the soldiers under the Milton Obote II regime reportedly split pregnant women’s bellies.

The LC5 chairperson of Luweero district, Hajji Abdul Nadduli recalls that during that time some people had their hands and lips cut.

He also recalls that some soldiers in Obote II regime would rape women and go away without being charged.

Nadduli likens the acts of Obote’s soldiers with those of LRA rebels. He says that LRA soldiers reportedly rapped women, kidnapped people and displaced millions of others.

The post Soldiers split women bellies first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.