Rapid cholera outbreak control following catastrophic landslides and floods: A case study of Bududa district, Uganda.

Background: In June 2019, landslides and floods in Bududa district, eastern Uganda, claimed lives and led to a cholera outbreak. The affected communities had inadequate access to clean water and sanitation.

Objective: To share the experience of controlling a cholera outbreak in Bududa district, after landslides and floods.

Does mHealth influence community health worker performance in vulnerable populations? A mixed methods study in a multinational refugee settlement in Uganda.

Community Health Workers (CHWs) provide healthcare in under-served communities, including refugee settlements, despite various challenges hindering their performance. Implementers have adopted mobile wireless technologies (m-Health) to improve the performance of CHWs in refugee settlements. We assessed the CHWs' performance and associated factors in a multi-national refugee settlement, operating mHealth and paper-based methods.

Self-care and healthcare seeking practices among patients with hypertension and diabetes in rural Uganda.

Background: Implementing effective self-care practices for non-communicable diseases (NCD) prevents complications and morbidity. However, scanty evidence exists among patients in rural sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We sought to describe and compare existing self-care practices among patients with hypertension (HTN) and diabetes (DM) in rural Uganda.

Design Research to Embed mHealth into a Community-Led Blood Pressure Management System in Uganda: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study.

Background: Uncontrolled hypertension is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. In Uganda, such diseases account for approximately 10% of all deaths, with 1 in 5 adults having hypertension (>90% of the hypertensive cases are uncontrolled). Although basic health care in the country is available free of cost at government facilities, regularly accessing medication to control hypertension is difficult because supply chain challenges impede availability.

Principles for task shifting hypertension and diabetes screening and referral: a qualitative study exploring patient, community health worker and healthcare professional perceptions in rural Uganda.

Background: A shortage of healthcare workers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) combined with a rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like hypertension and diabetes mellitus has resulted in increasing gaps in care delivery for NCDs. As community health workers (CHWs) often play an established role in LMIC healthcare systems, these programs could be leveraged to strengthen healthcare access. The objective of this study was to explore perceptions of task shifting screening and referral for hypertension and diabetes to CHWs in rural Uganda.

Transition from hospital to home care for preterm babies: A qualitative study of the experiences of caregivers in Uganda.

Improving care for preterm babies could significantly increase child survival in low-and middle income countries. However, attention has mainly focused on facility-based care with little emphasis on transition from hospital to home after discharge. Our aim was to understand the experiences of the transition process among caregivers of preterm infants in Uganda in order to improve support systems.

Cholera epidemic amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Moroto district, Uganda: Hurdles and opportunities for control.

Introduction: On 21st March 2020, the first COVID-19 case was detected in Uganda and a COVID-19 pandemic declared. On the same date, a nationwide lockdown was instituted in response to the pandemic. Subsequently, more cases were detected amongst the returning international travelers as the disease continued to spread across the country.

Reporting of sexual and gender-based violence and associated factors among survivors in Mayuge, Uganda.

Background: Reporting of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) allows survivors to access support services to minimize the impact of the violence on their lives. However, research shows that most SGBV survivors do not report.

Objective: We aimed to determine the proportion of survivors of SGBV in Mayuge District, Uganda, who report SGBV and the factors associated with reporting.

Young people's choice and voice concerning sex and relationships: effects of the multicomponent Get Up Speak Out! Programme in Iganga, Uganda.

Background: Young people in Uganda face challenges in achieving their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), such as lack of information, limited access to services, teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. To address this, their empowerment - including their ability to express themselves and make decisions, is a key strategy. This study assessed how young people's voice and choice concerning sex and relationships changed over the period of 3 years of implementation of the Get Up Speak Out! programme.

Patient preferences for facility-based management of hypertension and diabetes in rural Uganda: a discrete choice experiment.

Objective: To explore how respondents with common chronic conditions-hypertension (HTN) and diabetes mellitus (DM)-make healthcare-seeking decisions.

Setting: Three health facilities in Nakaseke District, Uganda.

Design: Discrete choice experiment (DCE).

Health facility readiness to care for high risk newborn babies for early childhood development in eastern Uganda.

Background: The neonatal mortality rate in Uganda has barely changed over the past decades, estimated at 28/1000 and 27/1000 live births in 2006 and 2016 respectively. The survivors have a higher risk of developing neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) due to brain insults from perinatal complications related to poor quality of health services during pregnancy, around the time of birth, and during the postnatal period. This study aimed to assess health facility readiness to care for high risk newborn babies in order to inform programming that fosters early childhood development in eastern Uganda.

The effect of blister packaging Iron and Folate on adherence to medication and hemoglobin levels among pregnant women at National Referral Hospital antenatal clinics in a low to middle income country: a Randomised Controlled Trial (The IFAd Trial).

Introduction: Anemia in pregnancy is an important global public health problem. It is estimated that 38% of pregnant women worldwide are anemic. In Africa, literature from observational studies show 20% of maternal deaths are attributed to anemia.

Social Support for Self-Care: Patient Strategies for Managing Diabetes and Hypertension in Rural Uganda.

Background: Low-income countries suffer a growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Self-care practices are crucial for successfully managing NCDs to prevent complications. However, little is known about how patients practice self-care in resource-limited settings.

Do sexual expectancies and inhibitions predict high-risk sexual behaviours? Evidence from a cross-sectional survey among young psychoactive substance users in informal settlements in Kampala, Uganda.

Background: Psychoactive substance use is a public health challenge among young people in informal settlements. Though rarely examined, psychoactive substance use is linked to sexual expectancies and inhibitions, and consequently high-risk sexual behaviours. This study examined the association between sexual expectancies and inhibitions, and high-risk sexual behaviours among young psychoactive substance users (PSUs) in informal settlements in Kampala, Uganda.

The Ambiguity Imperative: "Success" in a Maternal Health Program in Uganda.

Global health programs are compelled to demonstrate impact on their target populations. We study an example of social franchising - a popular healthcare delivery model in low/middle-income countries - in the Ugandan private maternal health sector. The discrepancies between the program's official profile and its actual operation reveal the franchise responded to its beneficiaries, but in a way incoherent with typical evidence production on social franchises, which privileges simple narratives blurring the details of program enactment.

Lessons from a community based interdisciplinary learning exposure: benefits for both students and communities in Uganda.

Background: Makerere University implemented a One Health Institute (OHI) in 2016 involving undergraduate students selected from different disciplines. The students were first taken through theoretical principles of One Health followed by a field attachment in communities. The field attachment aimed to expose students to experiential educational opportunities in the communities in a One Health approach.

SMART Vaccines 2.0 decision-support platform: a tool to facilitate and promote priority setting for sustainable vaccination in resource-limited settings.

In resource-constrained environments, priority setting is critical to making sustainable decisions for introducing new and underused vaccines and choosing among vaccine products. Donor organisations and national governments in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) recognise the need to support prioritisation of vaccine decisions driven by local health system capacity, epidemiology and financial sustainability.Successful efforts have supported the establishment of National Immunisation Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs) to undertake evidence-informed decision making (EIDM) in LMICs.

Caring for children with neurodevelopmental disability: Experiences from caretakers and health workers in rural eastern Uganda.

Background: Long term outcomes of children with neurodevelopmental disability are influenced by the condition itself, available health services and caretakers' coping ability to nurture the children which may be related to their beliefs and experiences. Most children with neurodevelopmental disabilities live in resource constrained settings. To inform design of contextually appropriate interventions, this study explored health workers' and caretakers' experiences in caring for infants with neurodevelopmental disability in rural eastern Uganda.

Accessing medicines for non-communicable diseases: Patients and health care workers' experiences at public and private health facilities in Uganda.

Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are increasingly prevalent in low- and middle-income countries. Successful management requires consistent access to appropriate medicines. Availability of NCD medicines is generally low, especially in the public sector, however, little is known about other factors affecting access.

Pregnancy Planning among Female Sex Workers in Uganda: Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of the London Measure of Unplanned Pregnancy.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the London Measure of Unplanned Pregnancy (LMUP) among female sex workers (FSWs) in Uganda. The LMUP was translated into Luganda and adapted for use with FSWs and underwent cognitive testing and two field tests. From the final Luganda LMUP, three other language versions were created (Acholi, Lugisu and Runyakole), and preliminary field test data were collected.

Prevalence and associated factors of neurodevelopmental disability among infants in eastern Uganda: a population based study.

Background: Neurodevelopmental disability (NDD) is increasingly acknowledged as one of the important causes of disease burden in low income countries. None the less, there is a dearth of data on the burden of NDD and its determinants in these settings. We aimed to establish the prevalence and factors associated with NDD among infants in Eastern Uganda.

'What kind of life is this?' Diabetes related notions of wellbeing among adults in eastern Uganda and implications for mitigating future chronic disease risk.

Background: Effective prevention and care for type 2 diabetes requires that people link healthy behaviours to chronic disease-related wellbeing. This study explored how people perceive current and future wellbeing, so as to inform lifestyle education.

Methods: Eight focus group discussions and 12 in-depth interviews were conducted in Iganga and Mayuge districts in rural Eastern Uganda among people aged 35-60 years in three risk categories (1) People with diabetes, (2) people at higher risk of diabetes (with hypertension or overweight) and (3) community members without diabetes.

The Role of National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs) in the Introduction of Inactivated Polio Vaccine: Experience of the Indonesia and Uganda NITAGs.

Background: National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs) are established by national authorities to provide them with independent, bias-free, objective, and evidence-based advice on vaccines and immunization challenges. As of December 2015, 125 countries have reported having set up an NITAG. The Health Policy and Institutional Development Center at the Agence de Médecine Préventive, a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborative Center for evidence-informed immunization, through its Supporting Independent Immunization and Vaccine Advisory Committees (SIVAC) Initiative project, provides assistance to low- and middle-income countries in the establishment and strengthening of their NITAGs.

The performance of community health workers in the management of multiple childhood infectious diseases in Lira, northern Uganda - a mixed methods cross-sectional study.

Background: Community health workers (CHWs) have the potential to reduce child mortality by improving access to care, especially in remote areas. Uganda has one of the highest child mortality rates globally. Moreover, rural areas bear the highest proportion of this burden.