ENVIRONMENT HEALTH AND HEALTH POLICY SITUATION IN UGANDA

Jacob Waiswa
Situation Health Analyst
Dishma-Inc.
P.O. Box 8885,
Kampala-Uganda
Tel. +256392614655/+256752542504
dishma.imhs@gmail.com
www.situationhealthanalysis.blogspot.com


“Environment can determine yr level of health, and climate is part of the environmental factors. Of course, the essence of health policy is to create better health.” Simon Nantamu (PhD), Global Health, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

Environment health continues to elude Uganda due to poor drainage systems and ineffective environmental laws while the health policies alienates Ugandans due to lack of medical personnel, lack of health information for preventive health; and poor health infrastructure –characterized by dire lack of medical equipments.

It is thus important to examine the levels of environment health and health policy situation in Uganda; assess the cultural health environments in which Ugandans live; the spiritual health environments; and the relationship between health policies and environment policy.

While many Ugandans love their traditional systems or cultures and cherish them, some have proved dangerous to peoples lives. 2010 in Uganda was a year of child sacrifices and the grave, well publicized female genital mutilation.

Such are reflected in figures: 34% (who said yes) to a fact that cultures were harmless; 33% who said no to the contrary, 28% (who said sometimes to potential harm from cultures); and 5% (who said neither harmful nor harmless).

Cultures in Uganda have for centuries lived in harmony with nature from they derived medicine, firewood, and religions manifested in clan and spiritual names. However, with increased population and modernization, much of the natural resources have been invaded and destroyed.

As such, the once respected nature (god) lost his dignity from men, now at a level of 50% (who said yes) on positive response of cultures towards the environment; 21% (who said no to that); 26% (who said sometimes culture contributed to environment protection); and 3% (who did not know whether or not it contributed to environment protection).

There is a significant relationship between culture and conservation. The regular harvesting of bamboo shoots on Mount Elgon, sought by local residents is favorable to the ecology. But man’s rules and regulations often undermine this link and tilt the balanced and complimentary relationship between nature, conservation and spiritual inspiration –leading to their endangerment by the so-called modern economy and modern habits.

“As humans get lost in what makes them be below the most stupid animal those, who are armed with skills to help them become well acquainted with their issues and try to help them rise above that animal.” Fred Charles Oweyegha-Afunaduula, National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE), Kampala, Uganda.

The same is the case with spirituality –which over years has undergone degeneration and erosion due to western Christian movements and their contact with Africa. Despite the creation story emphasis of man’s stewardship over the entire creation, greed, arrogance and pride –instead characterizes the relationship.

That affects the spiritual significance to the natural environment as was marked by 50% (of Ugandans who said yes) to spirituality’s positive significance to environment protection, 23% (who said no to the statement), 25% who said sometimes it was significant to the environment; and 3% said did not know whether it was significant to the environment or not. Most religious today focus on economic gains, rather than environment issues and life sustainability as their focus too is heaven, not earth.

The Ugandan experience of worship especially among Christians shows most of them making fortune at the expense unsuspecting followers –using written scriptures as opium to extort, cheat and exploit church goers.

With 27% (yes) to show their concern towards a health environment, 34% said no, 39% said sometimes they showed concern, and 1% said did not know whether there was a need to show concern or not. The concern towards a clean and health environment in Uganda was very low as per 2010 –a situation, which, without doubt, limits sustainability of life systems

In Uganda government was reluctant to take on issues of encroachment seriously and insensitive of the effects on the environment. It is little wonder that the landslides in Bududa, Mbale killed 300 people for government to deal with the encroachment problems later. It did so by resettling inhabitants in Bunyoro. The resettlement was done without critical analysis of the cause of such environmental refugee crisis within the country.

There was a negative correlations between health policies and environment health showed by P=0.259 > 0.01 level (2-tailed). There is, thus, very little that health policies can do to foster environment health in Uganda.

In the first case, the health sector itself is sick –characterized by drug theft, negligence, low professionalism, poor health infrastructure, defects in administration, lack of priority spending, and poor funding.

Health policies are not effectively serving their intentions as showed by 27% Ugandans who said yes to it, 33% said no, 40% said sometimes they were effective, and 1% said did not know whether they were effective or not. There is gross lack of health infrastructure –where they are much needed (rural areas).

They are very poor and ill-equipped; lack medical personnel and equipment, and roads are inaccessible. Above all, people continue to die of preventable circumstances as maternal deaths, malaria, diarrhea etc.

In conclusion, there is limited grasp and practice of environment health issues –which continue to put the lives of Ugandans in great danger and make predictability of epidemics easy and worrying.

Besides the health policies have not been good enough to protect nationals against such eventualities –through community empowerment programs, interdisciplinary health education in schools and tertiary institutions, erection of functional and equipped health posts; greater and culture and religious involvement in health dispensations as family planning and health education.

There was a very low positive correlations between health policies and environment health showed by P=0.259 > 0.001 level (2-tailed) –which meant that health policies can do very little to help achieve environmental health. There is thus a need to make them functional if policy makers are to be sensible enough or relevant to the people they serve.

Is there Good and Bad Corruption?

Jacob Waiswa
Peace and Conflict Center
P.O. Box 7062,
Makerere University
Kampala-Uganda
jwaiswa@arts.mak.ac.ug

The word corruption has widely been used to mean misuse of public and digressing to the norms of administration within an organization. It involves buying favors, or paying for assistance –where such payments are not necessary. It also about incompetence and failure to deliver public goods as obliged by virtue of holding a public office.

As a consequence of corruption, the poor have failed to benefit from national development initiatives as the funds are swindled long before they trickle down them. Because the political and economic structure denotes that the very few privileged people far aloof, funds fail to trickle through when they are tasked to implement development programs.

Yet, successful program implementation will mean breaking the structure along with their privileges -a huge cost they will not want to see. According to them, peace is peace if the structure is preserved as long as possible. Any attempt to break it comes with serious losses of human life.

A ruling dynasty has shaped up like that of the legendary banana republic who control the national economy with a handful of friends and those who through compromise succeed at breaking the thick protective dynastic wall.

The services or infrastructure build are either appalling or short-lived. Officials who are charged with ensuring the implementation of government programs employ many middlemen –with whom to share huge commissions while leaving less or nothing evident on the ground. That can be frustrating for those who cannot buy the favors or give tokens of appreciations in order to genuinely receive government services.

There are, however, instances were upon satisfaction of work done or in helping process a need to its final stage, a beneficially may feel so happy that he or she gives a token of appreciation to the government representative.

The disadvantage, though, is that while tokens of appreciation mutually benefit both parties and may be for the common good, it could become a norm in the near future. It would mean an obligation of every Ugandan to have money every time nations seek public services –more so quality ones. Here the poor ones lose out.

Ability to offer rewards makes some people more powerful than the others. In case of political elections, it is never easy to win without a powerful wealthy source of money. No wonder, incumbents in Africa are diamonds to break in nation’s general elections. It is ever the opposition politicians who cry foul.

It is made even worse when government moves to break opposition parties’ source of funding that are interpreted as a strong motivation to overthrow government. Foreign governments that offer support to the opposition are soon labelled enemies of the regime while individuals involved are promptly arrested and charged for treason.

It is irresistible for the rural poor to accept money given when back home there is no food. Such a temporary motivation to love a leader who until election time was not concerned about them worked for the incumbents.

The rural areas are homo-ideological, most inclined to the present and respond easily to fear of the unknown and threats from government representatives. It, for a long time, becomes tooth and nail to change such a government democratically.

The same is the case with 'generosity': if misery of the population penetrates the heart of a leader, he or she donates items or money to improve their lives. To the Ugandan politician, donation is never so parse, but political capital for reinvesting themselves into the lives of their electorate.

In the other sense, the donation goes on to build strong links and relationship between the donating person or country and the recipients. Such a relation is never easy to break down as the case with the national resistance movement and the rural majority supporters. Despite dying due to simple and preventable diseases, dropping out of school and massive starvation, the relationship remains unshakable.

Within corruption, now, are opportunities for engaging it. Non-government organizations are mushrooming to benefit from the desperate need to arrest the situation. However, with corruption well socially, economically, culturally and spiritually structurally made concreted one wonders whether those organizations will not fall prey by compromising with the big corruption system that has been seen grow over years.

Showing generosity and appreciation is not limited to politics; it all begins from the relation between two dating individuals, forming a family and that family getting absorbed into the wider society. At the level of courtship, it will be a show of power through giving generously –considered good for a romantic relationship.

The same will be at famine level when children are initiated into earning money as a reward for doing well or to support good behaviors. Besides, it can be argued that good corruption is one that supports mutual relationship while the bad one destroys it, which guarantees fairness rather than discriminate and limit achievement of citizens’ dreams. We can only avoid corruption if we can avoid the good and bad corruption. How possible is that?

An Open Letter to a Ugandan Voter (FWD)...

January 2011

Dear Ugandan,

RE: ABUSE OF TAXPAYER MONEY AND WASTAGE OF PUBLIC FUNDS BY GOVERNMENT AND PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA AND 6 ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

As you read this letter, just remember that your primary allegiance is to our country and our flag. Also remember that almost 10 million of our 33 million citizens live in abject poverty, can’t afford to have a decent meal, can’t afford basic healthcare or can’t afford to give their children a quality education. Think of a generation of children that can’t access quality education, an army of educated and uneducated youth that are losing confidence in themselves as a result of massive unemployment - all this because of bad leadership across the board!

Because of love for our country and the respect for our flag, you will think that our president as the custodian of our sovereignty and resources, our government as the ultimate planning authority for our country and our Members of Parliament as protector of our collective public trust should every single day and night be working on how to fix the above and many other problems that confront out country. Every single shilling that comes out of the sweat of toiling Ugandan farmers, teachers, doctors, artisans, fishermen, public servants, etc would be spent on fixing these problems.

It is only when you see what is happening around us that you begin to ask: where did our leaders put their conscience; when did we lose the decency that made each one of us brothers and sisters during our darkest times of the 1970s and 1980s? How did corruption become the virtue that defines our political and economic culture? As you are aware, within a space of a few years, our country has witnessed gross abuses and blatant theft of public funds from the Ushs 5 million that bought are democracy by removing presidential term limits to the Global and GAVI Funds, the Temangalo and CHOGM Scandal, the Ushs 20 Million questionably deposited on the Accounts of all Members of Parliament and many others.

In many ways, financial tyranny and daylight robbery is being passed on Ugandan Tax Payers who struggle day and night for only modest returns. And it is these moneys that are stolen by political leaders and public officials who are in constant collusion to defraud Ugandans through open theft or misallocation of tax payer’s money to support a growing and increasingly burdensome political bureaucracy that includes over 330 MPs, over 70 Ministers, 112 RDCs and over 100 Presidential Advisors, among others.

In the latest rip off, without shame Parliament unreasonably approved a Supplementary Budget of over 602.648 Billion. Following this infamous act, 6.5 Billion widely believed to be a bribe was deposited on the accounts of all MPs, with each getting about 20 million each, officially meant to facilitate them to “monitor” government programmes. Already MPs get all manner of allowances to do the same and the 20
million this time like never before is a big amount and with no guidelines on how the money is to be spent. Without a shame, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) jumped into the fray to collected tax on the taxpayers’ money that was being siphoned from the consolidated fund.

Fellow Ugandans, the time has come for all of us to condemn and reject official and unofficial corruption. This is the time to say ENOUGH and to reclaim our country from greed and political patronage that have become the hallmark of our governance. If there was any decency left in Government, in political leaders, they would know that the 6.5 Billion fraudulently paid to MPs would:
Increase access to safe water especially in the rural areas by constructing over 2,500 boreholes;
It would promote science education in secondary school by constructing and equipping at least 350 secondary schools with science laboratories;
Improve sanitation in schools and communities by constructing at least 50,000 latrines across the country;
Provide lunch meals for at least 200,000 pupils who go hungry for a complete academic year!
Improve farmers’ access to improved varieties of crops by giving 10,0000 coffee seedlings;
Promote agriculture by providing 3.600,000 hand hoes to small scale farmers;
Reduce youth unemployment and promote the growth of small scale businesses by providing micro credit to at least 300,000 entrepreneurs;
Provide 6 years of funding at the current funding levels to Gulu University, which is on the verge of closure.
And, many more worthy undertakings for our people in urban and rural areas.

As Ugandans, we MUST reject the cosmetic anti-corruption reforms that have only produced anti-corruption institutions, policies and action plans that only postpone action, hoodwink Ugandans and create comfort zones for political leaders, while shameless corruption continues. We implore you to play your part and take the following 6 actions:
1. Applaud and associate with those Members of Parliament who have done the honorable act by refusing to steal from the Ugandan tax payer and returned the money to parliament. So far twelve (12) MPs have done so, and several shown willingness to return it.
2. Demand, at any forum and through whatever medium is available to you that our President immediately takes action against corrupt ministers and restores his personal credibility as a crusader against corruption and also restores honor to the Office of the President.
3. Demand that all MPs, including the Speaker of Parliament return the 20 million fraudulently deposited on their accounts. As long as they don’t do this, they don’t deserve the tag honorable and must be treated as such in public places.
4. Reject any form of bribes during this election as this is part of the ‘blood money’ that our leaders are dishing to the electorate and most importantly DON’T VOTE FOR ANY MP OR LEADER INVOLVED IN CORRUPTION.
5. AND before you cast your vote on February 18, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THAT IF THAT CANDIDATE IS AN INCUMBENT MP, HE/SHE HAS FULLY PAID BACK OUR MONEY.
6. Finally, pass on this letter to 10 other Ugandans you interact with in your neighborhood, at the work place, in your church, hospital and restaurant, and tell them to do the same.

Fellow Ugandan, it is in our power to change the fortunes of OUR country. No where in the world has collective and sustained citizen action for good failed - play your part and do what you can, however modest it seems. Collectively, we will save our country from anarchy in the short and long term.


IT IS OUR COUNTRY. IT IS OUR MONEY. LET US BE PROUD TO BE UGANDANS. FIGHTING AGAINST CORRUPT LEADERS IS AN HONOR WE GIVE TO OUR COUNTRY.


BE PART OF THE ACTION IN THE “RETURN OUR MONEY CAMPAIGN”

WARS, TERROR CAMPAIGNS, CORRUPTION, POVERTY, GLOBAL WARMING AND OTHERS: SHOULD IT BE ABOUT BREAKING NEWS?

This is a summary of problems associated to man and his environment -where man's responsibility is key to save himself. To do so values humanist and ecologically-minded nature must be generated.

Human plans must not cheat on nature but get balanced with or to consider ecological needs and those for future generation. Our own actions must neither make us slaves nor other members of the eco-system.

The headlines news papers put to us can be sickening. Sometimes one could be forced to bury his or her head in the sand to avoid watching or looking at them and/or miseries surrounding the globe.

Misery continues to chock as more problems create more problems. Indeed, very few to note could choose healthy behaviors or come out with a proactive plans that step-by-step might solve personal and/or community problems.

Many would resort to drinking alcohol and illegal drug use, abusing their spouses and children or even killing, or make killing a hobby, and form survival cults or sects yet extreme in their values -most of which being psychopathological -showing signs of a long history of misery and/or violence to self and others.

However, a section that would choose to spend time watching premier-league, champions' league or other soccer leagues should not be left out as one way of burying heads in the sand people sometime opt for -much as it is non-violent.

Definitely, it would not be surprising if a formally abused or traumatized by others injurious actions too became abusive to others. There would be a compensatory element -to feel some form justice granted or “life balance” -through injury and then recovery. One thus, could choose to recover through harming others or vengeance.

Plans must be created upon sensing humanly threatening problems, and actions immediately taken -first; by the action initiator through group formations to later form community perception and engagement. Gladly, many humanitarian initiatives have emerged from spirited and courageous global citizens -as observable on facebook and other sites or blogs. These must be strengthened.

Besides, mere writing down the genesis of one's troubles could help create very big difference in an individual or whoever does so. The differences could be in form of resuscitated energy, self-discovery, gained self esteem and confidence.

With the energy got, individuals would be encouraged to form or share and action-plan to pursue. Any thought or plan to create positive change can therefore, not be under-estimated since that alone provides the beginning -which of course; is most important.

Sustaining action, however, is another. This would be characterized by off and on the “track.” But undying vision could, nevertheless bring hope and later re-ignition of actions for positive global change.

Resilience studies have showed that such (resilience) is well; born, sustained by community but also a process started, and a struggle -whose positive results tend to be gradual, in bits or once in a long time.

The focus could then be; belief or faith that sustains actions. That (belief or faith), simply must be kept burning. Without pushing much far, why shouldn't we pick Barrack Obama as a model here? He used faith to steer his vision to success.

Actions must start now rather than later to help ourselves and environment in totality since the more we continue to watch, the more bad fate watches us instead.

All we have to do is begin with the nearest resources at our disposal -which is ourselves -may be our hobbies and interests as medium for channeling important messages, creating positive social causes and pursuing them as long as life allows.

The implication might be that all institutions would be penetrated and injected with awareness of human challenges and positive actions to work on. From one individual showing concern in a locality, we could create a new peaceful, environmentally-mindful and cooperative community in search of goodness and natural rights.

For impact realization or just an action, we must seek support, cry out if need arises, seek partners, create new positive and supportive relationships, break into closed -yet helpful social systems -as decisions we should never tire acting on.

Individual values must be carefully considered and projected to help save lives, protect nature from degradation and cause a smile to the lives of many, or helping to share individual successes with those in the process of self-liberation as well as the physically and mentally handicapped.

As a community with a common destiny and related struggles as being channeled to goodness of living, we ought to do and show love, care and support for one another. This would be the single way to defeat terror, nazi-like tendencies in families and communities as well as the could be “normal” challenges of life.

They ought to be guided with such values as long as they live. In case of death, let it me for goodness of self and others, rather than seeking to suffocate others out of life for some form of gratification.

And of course, too, where there is goodness of thinking, intention and practice, evil ones or nazi tendencies panic, get humiliated and weak. It is such a line that we could only nurture in ourselves. Believable peace and harmony belongs to such persons.

The beginning of trouble would always come from the kind of thoughts we invest in ourselves through actions or relationships interactions -as with the intellect we use to apply them. In that regard, we must cease the chance now and as others continue to manifest, or hope that they would later.

Global citizens could perhaps consider about two to half day meditating over goodness that the World peoples should nourish themselves with. Such could help sustain energies for positive change activism.

But considering a community (ies) approach in all interventions, indeed, it would not only help heal wounds of individuals or reduce their vulnerability, but also make situations easier for them (vulnerable groups to adjust through. In fact, the same approach would be key in matters of urgency in as far as interventions are concerned.

Agreeably, with the rising and taking of individual and community responsibility, respectively -and cooperation in strategic planning and actions, or interventions -towards such human afflictions as wars, diseases, poverty, greed or corruption, famine -sometimes as a combination, we can help reduce damage whilst in a solid block working for positive global change.


Waiswa Jacob
Situation Health Analyst
+256774336277 or 0754890614
DECISION MAKING AND SITUATION HEALTH MANAGEMENT -DISHMA
www.situationhealthanalysis.blogspot.com