Health & Hygiene


Statistics from 2015 show that in Uganda 1 in 3 women aged 20-24 have given birth by age 18 and a woman’s lifetime risk of maternal death in 2015 was 1 in 47.
(UNICEF).

Improving lives through knowledge and action

Did you know?

The top 6 causes of death in Uganda are:
  1. neonatal disorders,
  2. HIV/AIDS,
  3. malaria,
  4. lower respiratory infections,
  5. Tuberculosis
  6. diarrhoea (CDC).

 

Statistics from 2015 show that in Uganda 1 in 3 women aged 20-24 have given birth by age 18 and a woman’s lifetime risk of maternal death in 2015 was 1 in 47.

Children worldwide often suffer from easily preventable yet serious illnesses, which impact upon their education.

For this reason, in our schools we have prioritised health promotion programmes which address widespread problems the community recognise as important.

Over the course of time a small team of health professionals have held numerous camps on topics including sexual health, malaria, jiggers, sanitation and obstetric emergencies.

Within our schools we have also prioritised building latrines and hand washing facilities and providing access to safe drinking water thus reducing disease.

Charlene’s Project’s critical aim is to improve maternal and child health care. We work alongside the government and local and international partners, advocating to improve the quality, staffing and access to the health clinics that these communities use.

We help provide education, training and resources to the staff of these health clinics aiming to empower and upskill staff leading to a sustainable lasting impact.

A good example of this is Diika Health Center, a government facility that provides health services to the communities where the 8 primary schools we are working in are situated.

Our partner Masindi Kitara have been providing training and logistical support to Diika for Charlene’s Project with a view to upskilling and upgrading the staff and the facility to improve the services offered to the children, women and families in this community.

Most recently a new Maternity Unit has been built at Diika Health Centre thanks to the support of people here in Northern Ireland.

This new unit will help to provide the Health Centre with the resources it needs to help women and families in the surrounding community. Up to now they have been having to help women through labour, antenatal care etc. in such a small, under-resourced unit.

Many women are meant to go to the hospital for labour, but it is too far away, therefore women end up coming here to deliver. So this unit, will help to provide better health facilities for the whole community and will provide women with dignity and safety through labour, antenatal and perinatal care.

Maternal healthcare statistics in this region are poor, and this maternity unit will aim to be part of the solution in helping to improve these figures and provide better care to this community.