Health

Kamatuuza has little health provision and many people have to walk between five and ten miles to the local hospitals to access health care. In most cases this makes health care inaccessible and unaffordable. The observations of Just Care over the past 5 years have highlighted the desperate lack of health care and consequent high morbidity and mortality amongst the children. Average life expectancy is still only 49 years and 1 in 10 children will die under 5 years of age.

AIDS ..

The World Health Organisation has estimated that over 200,000 Ugandan children under the age of 14 years have HIV infection This figure however is probably very much higher since birth, health and death records in the rural communities are rarely kept. Children are often born and die with no record ever having been made of their existence. Of the 2 million orphans in Uganda almost all have lost one or both parents to AIDS, the highest recorded number of AIDS orphans in Africa. A local health professional working in the Masaka Health District has informed us that of the 20,000 people living in the “parish” of which Kamutuuza is one of 6 villages, 10,000 are children and all of these have been affected by AIDS. Despite Ugandan and world information to the contrary AIDS continues to be a serious and continuing problem for Ugandan children.

Malaria

Malaria continues to be the greatest killer of Ugandan children. An estimated 110,000 children die of malaria in Uganda each year. 43% of deaths of under fives are attributed to malaria. Of course, this problem is exacerbated by the high number of children who are immuno-suppressed by HIV infection. Malaria does not only cause ill health and death but also has a great impact on the economic and social development of the family and the individual child.

Water and sanitation ..

Water borne diseases continue to be a serious threat to child health. In the villages, water is collected, mainly by the children, usually twice daily, from water holes often some distance from their homes. These water holes are highly polluted and are breeding grounds for mosquitoes. They are often located in isolated areas putting the children at risk of kidnap and abuse, a problem which has recently come to light in Kamutuuza. Sanitation and personal hygiene is also poor adding to the threat of ill health amongst the children. On the Kamutuuza children’s site a new water supply, toilets and washing facilities are presently being installed in an attempt to protect the children from water borne diseases and to educate them on the importance and advantages of clean water and hygienic sanitation systems.

Local hospital facilities ..

The dedicated staff at the local government hospital in Masaka are working under often impossible conditions. In the one children’s ward at the hospital, built in 1949 to cater for 30 children, often up to 100 children are cared for at one time. The majority of these children are under the age of 5 years, any older children, if they reach the hospital at all, have to be cared for on adult wards. During the malaria seasons children share beds and sleep in corridors. Children with highly infectious diseases such as TB have to be put in cots alongside other, often immuno-suppressed, children thus creating a great risk of cross infection. Equipment is inadequate and often breaking down and drugs are in short supply. Malnutrition also continues to be a serious problem and a killer of children.
Kitovu Hospital, a Catholic charity hospital, is also situated in Masaka. Their facilities are much better than at the Masaka government hospital and staff are well trained. However, due to an extremely heavy work load and patient throughput, they are also desperately short of equipment and drugs.

THE RIGHTS OF A CHILD

As a direct consequence of poverty and disease the children of Uganda are struggling to survive, with low expectations for a healthy or a prosperous future. However, these children are the country’s most precious commodity and deserve, along with all children, world class health care and education, a secure future and the means to reach their full potential in life. In a speech made by Gordon Brown in January 2005 he stated, “Surely it is our belief that every child is precious: Every child is unique: Every child is very special: Every child deserves our support: No child should be left out: Every child matters: Every child counts. You cannot blame a child for her poverty. You cannot hold a child responsible for her deprivation. You cannot condemn a child for no fault of her own. You cannot consider a child, however sick, as of no consequence and dismiss her as unproductive or uneconomic. But that is what we allow to happen.” Jesus refers to children as “God’s Kingdom’s pride & joy” (Message) and warns us never to deny them the love and provision which He has for them..

Children of Kamutuuza

The devastating results of poverty, inadequate health facilities, dirty water supplies and poor sanitation are clearly seen in Kamutuuza and surrounding communities. The children will never reach their full potential educationally and as functioning members of their communities unless these issues are met. Just Care shares the views of WHO, UNICEF and other world authorities, that we all share responsibility for the deprived and suffering in our world, in particular those who are most vulnerable and dependent on the care of others, the children of our world. We strongly advocate the basic rights of all children to survival, development, protection and support.

Bishop Samuel Kamya, Bishop of the West Bugandan Diocese, states “One area where the Church and state have failed miserably is the area of health care provision to all. Malaria still triumphantly surges on killing young and old alike, by the thousands each year. Water borne diseases march on unchecked – in the absence of a clean water programme. … On the other side one has a rapidly growing population, ever-falling incomes, inadequate treatment facilities and a severe shortage of professional personnel. Treatment costs for common ailments are too high for ordinary folks… As a church … we have a belief that facilities in terms of treatment centres should be availed closer to the people … at a cost that most people can afford.

As a result of the above facts and observations Just Care has built a Children’s Medical Centre in Kamutuuza, aiming to improve the quality and quantity of life of thousands of deprived and sick village children.