In partnership with GlobeMed at WU, Uganda Development and Health Associates implements community-led initiatives that provide HIV testing/counseling, growth monitoring, and basic medical care; empower youth through sexual health education; and hold community-based programming to promote proper nutrition and healthy pregnancies. Through their focus on sexual health and nutrition, these projects provide youth with the knowledge and resources necessary to take control of their own health.
Facing childhood malnutrition and communicable disease rates that rank among the world's highest, a child born in Uganda has a life expectancy of only 53 years. As of 2010, 38% of children under 5 suffer from stunting, 16% are underweight (UNICEF), and 79.5% are anemic (Tulane). The adult prevalence of HIV/AIDS ranks 10th highest in the world at 6.5%, yet only 38% and 31% of male and female youth respectively have extensive knowledge on HIV/AIDS (UNICEF).
The Iganga Youth Centre provides young people with the knowledge and tools necessary to cultivate healthy relationships, engage in family planning, and avoid sexually transmitted disease through both sexual health outreaches and HIV testing and counseling. The Naigobya Nutrition Project implements a Community Health Worker model to provide growth monitoring and nutritional supplementation to young children and pregnant women, promoting nutritional health and intervening in cases of malnutrition.
UDHA's model empowers tomorrow's leaders through a focus on youth. Each year, the Youth Centre reaches over 5,000 young people, providing resources such as sexual health education and HIV testing while promoting interpersonal skills for healthy decision making. The Nutrition Project similarly addresses immediate concerns for over 2,000 children and 230 pregnant women to ensure positive health outcomes while investing in an educational foundation emphasizing long-term nutrition.
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Excel file (projdoc.xls).
