Daily variation of heavy metal contamination and its potential sources along the major urban wastewater channel in Kampala, Uganda.

Heavy metal pollution from untreated industrial wastewater has become a major concern to the environment and public health in many rapidly growing cities in low-income countries. Previous studies on heavy metals of urban wastewater systems have focused on long-term (weekly or seasonal) variations, while only few studies investigated short-term (daily) variation to capture potential bulk discharges. To monitor and enforce wastewater discharge regulations and reduce industrial pollution, a better understanding of the short-term variation of these pollutants and industrial discharge practices is needed.

Costs of unintentional injuries among children in an urban slum community in Kampala city, Uganda.

Unintentional injuries cause deaths, disabilities, productivity and financial losses and disproportionately affect children in low-income settings yet their cost remains under studied. This study determined the household out-of-pocket expenditure and missed school attendance due to unintentional childhood injuries in a Ugandan slum. We used a cross-sectional household survey design.

Occupational safety and health regulations and implementation challenges in Uganda.

The burden of occupational diseases and injuries is high in developing countries due to several challenges including poor regulatory frameworks. To explore the status of occupational safety and health (OSH) policies and related implementation challenges in Uganda, we reviewed OSH regulations and conducted key informant interviews with stakeholders. We found that the existing OSH laws were largely outdated compared to the current needs of workplaces.

Ebola a reality of modern Public Health; need for Surveillance, Preparedness and Response Training for Health Workers and other multidisciplinary teams: a case for Uganda.

Introduction: West Africa is experiencing the largest ever reported Ebola outbreak. Over 20,000 people have been infected of which about 9000 have died. It is possible that lack of community understanding of the epidemic and lack of institutional memory and inexperienced health workers could have led to the rapid spread of the disease.