Impact of mhealth messages and environmental cues on hand hygiene practice among healthcare workers in the greater Kampala metropolitan area, Uganda: study protocol for a cluster randomized trial.

Background: Hand hygiene (HH) among healthcare workers (HCWs) is critical for infection prevention and control (IPC) in healthcare facilities (HCFs). Nonetheless, it remains a challenge in HCFs, largely due to lack of high-impact and efficacious interventions. Environmental cues and mobile phone health messaging (mhealth) have the potential to improve HH compliance among HCWs, however, these remain under-studied.

History, evolution and future of environmental health in Uganda.

This article explores the history and evolution of Environmental Health in Uganda under four key themes: training and practice; research; governance, policy and regulatory framework; and challenges. The article also describes the future of the profession. Through a review of documents and key informant interviews, it is noted that Environmental Health in Uganda dates back to colonial times when the country was affected by diseases including plague, trypanosomiasis and small pox.

Bacteriological and physical quality of locally packaged drinking water in Kampala, Uganda.

Objective: To assess the bacteriological and physical quality of locally packaged drinking water sold for public consumption.

Methods: This was cross-sectional study where a total of 60 samples of bottled water from 10 brands and 30 samples of sachet water from 15 brands purchased randomly were analyzed for bacteriological contamination (total coliform and faecal coliform per 100 mL) using membrane filtrate method and reported in terms of cfu/100 mL.

Results: Both bottled water and sachet water were not contaminated with faecal coliform.