FOR $10 HELP HEALTH SYSTEMS RESILIENCE TO CLIMATE

With the different climate change indicators leading to far reaching effects on health, reproductive health has been one of the most affected sectors in the health system of developing countries. In Uganda, extreme weather events have reduced access to sexual and reproductive health services, increase in rates of sexual risk behaviour, and early sexual debut with its effects such as exposure to HPV that could potentially lead to cervical cancer. This has rendered the young generation especially the girl child highly vulnerable.

Kigezi Healthcare Foundation on the basis of the above recently conducted a training deep in communities where 21 community health workers got a training in reproductive health. KIHEFO choose community health workers because they are ever present in communities on top of possessing vast knowledge about their communities since they reside there. This was seen as a sustainable way of handling and solving such effects as rural communities fail to access such services even when the conditions are fair. The community health workers trained included 17 women and 4 men with the total number hailing from three villages. Villages hold averagely between 150 to 200 households.

A number of topics were handled and they included the following;

l Sexual health, fertility and sex education. This was to make sure they understand that menstraul conselling especially to school going and adolescent girls is always readily available, Safe sex education - a concept that includes family planning methods is also relayed in these rural communities so as the quality of life of women can greatly improve.

ll Prenatal, delivery and post partum care. This was to equip the community health workers with knowledge so as to assist the pregnant mothers in communities so as to combart the ever challenging factors that promote delivery at home, poor nutrition of pregnant mothers due to lack of knowledge and low ante natal care attendances at the different maternal  care facilities in communities.

lll Effect of climate change on health. This was also tackled as most community members need to be sensitized that poor farming methods may affect their health and or the health of the entire community in the wrong run.

This discussion proved timely as the community health workers testified to receiving better and improved information that they will disseminate to community members as most of the people have less knowledge about reproductive health, its components and most especially how climate change affects the health of individuals and communities at large.

As KIHEFO Uganda, we appreciate those that have supported us over time in the task to fight disease, ignorance and poverty with yet a mightier call to arms  for everyone out there willing to see a change in the different communities we live in to join in the fight.

Uganda has a population of more than 13 million of both men and women at a risk of developing cervical and prostate cancer with the ages at risk being 15 to 44 years in women for cervical cancer and the age of 40 and above in men for prostate cancer.

In different rural communities, there is a huge shortage of skilled health workers to do the screening so that detected stages may be managed before they hit advanced levels.

Kigezi Healthcare Foundation in May, in effort to aid the community triumph over these challenges, conducted a two-week mobile clinic in the northwest region of the country known as West Nile where;

• 20 health workers were trained in cervical and prostate cancer screening with the support of Arua Regional Referral Hospital that facilitated five trainers.
• people got to enjoy the services of cervical cancer screening for women as cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of death amongst women in Uganda.
• Prostate cancer screening for men above the age of 40. This was the first-time men in that region were being screened for prostate enlargement.
• In total, 1242 people were screened with women taking up the highest percentage (75% ~ 932) and men (25% ~ 310).

There was also a host of other services where people had their blood pressures checked, blood sugar levels checked and people with depression counselled in stepwise sessions. These services have improved the health of communities as we go ahead to plan accordingly as climate change and its far-reaching effects is now upon us.

We want to appreciate the efforts of all those that support us and we call upon more support as the health system needs to be ready to tackle effects of climate change.