Category «Health»

WHO on nodding disease victims

The World health organization has opposed the manner in which at least 25 children affected by nodding disease were transferred from Kitgum to Kampala. The Kitgum district Woman Mp Beatrice Anywar is reported to have transported the 25 children in a bus to Mulago Hospital, saying they were not being given due attention. The outbreak of the disease is majorly concentrated in Kitgum, Pader and Lamwo districts with more than 3000 cases and at least 200 deaths reported. The WHO country representative Dr. Joaquim Saweka says transporting the children without evaluating their health condition wasn’t right especially given the long distance they endured. Saweka emphasized the need for immediate response to ensure that the children get the medical attention they …

Measles outbreak in Namayingo District

Over 200 cases of measles have been registered in Namayingo district since November last year. Dr. James Magoola the District Health Officer says most of the cases have been registered in the Sigulu islands, where parents have ignored routine immunization of their children. Last week 25 children were admitted to Namayingo Hospital after they were diagnosed with the disease. Magoola says the district in conjunction with the Ministry of health is now planning a mass immunization campaign starting April this year to help eliminate the disease. Last year, 45 children were reported to have died of measles in the same district. Dr Magoola says that though the district health team struggles to contain the disease, the situation is being aggravated …

The growing threat of Leukemia

Leukemia is one of the most deadly cancers that affect children. Also known as cancer of the blood, it accounts for 40% of the cases of cancer reported among children at Mulago Hospital. As I enter the children’s ward for cancer, my attention is first drawn to a 14 year old boy. Badru Were looks much younger than his age, a condition blamed on his disease. Am later told he is battling Leukemia. His mother Monica Kaija says he has been battling the disease since he was 8 years old and slowly, they have lost hope of his recovery. Monica says that aside from the pain her son has endured, raising the money from his treatment is also very difficult. …

Cases of kidney disease in children on the rise

Doctors say that we can live quite well with only one kidney, and some people live a healthy life even when born with one missing. But while bones can break and muscles can waste away without causing a major risk to life, if both of your kidneys fail, as happens in end stage kidney failure, bone, muscle or brain cannot carry on. Without any kidney function, the body dies which means one ought to act immediately once they discover they have a kidney problem. Why are kidney diseases on the rise among children? For a long time, kidney diseases were associated with adults, particularly those that have HIV, smokers and the diabetic. The trend has however changed. Statistics show that …

A swollen neck has left him jobless

Seven years ago, 48-year-old Joram Tusiime noticed a small swelling on the right side of his neck, but since it was not painful, he did not go to the hospital to check it out. “The swelling was very small and I didn’t have money to go to the hospital to check it out since it wasn’t even painful,” he recalls. By that time, Tusiime worked as a sales person in Kabale district. Tusiime says in 2005, he was fired from his job when the boss was changed. He says the swelling kept growing steadily. “It kept increasing so in 2007, I went to Kabale hospital and was told to go and look for money for an operation, which I was …