Egessa Hajusu
26 October 2009
Kampala — Busia district health department is rewarding area residents who keep good hygiene in their homes. The drive, named the Home Improvement Campaign, was launched in Majanji parish in Lumino sub-county on Friday by the district chairperson, Patrick Wedakule.
Speaking at the ceremony, the health inspector, Tony Wabwire, said the district would reward residents who have all the necessary sanitary facilities in their homes. The best at parish and village levels will get a bicycle and a 20-litre jerrican, Wabwire said, while the homes which ranked second will walk away with a basin.
He noted that the rewards would encourage the residents to improve their home and personal hygiene. Wabwire, however, said those who fail to maintain proper hygienewill be arrested and prosecuted.
Majanji, where the campaign was launched, is ranked the dirtiest area. Majanji is situated on the shores of Lake Victoria. The district health officer, Dr. Bwire Oundo, asked the communities to take health seriously.
Oundo argued that ill-health retards development because a lot of money is spent in hospitals and that people become too weak to work.
He also emphasized the need for proper hygiene, saying it would safeguard the residents from disease outbreaks that are likely to come with the heavy rains.
Vincent Adeya, the deputy chief administrative officer, noted that there was low pit-latrine coverage in schools in the district.
Adeya blamed this on the inadequate funding given to the schools.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2009 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
Am extremely happy to see such a thing in my district. The DHO has really done what we expected and for that matter i have to appreciate his effort to reach to that,However i will stile encourage him to reach all sub counties including Buhehe.
Referring to the situations in our hospitals,the living conditions are quite in bad state that even a patient may loose the hopes of regaining because he is seeing may be a friend dying,and that even the rate of cross infection is so high in that if one went in normal may finally come out infected especially patient attandants. so my suggestions are;
we look at issues pertaining quality assurance of all the systems how do they operate,customer care,service deliveries,and the general environment around our hospitals and homes purposely to reduce on risk factors.
we can also look at away of motivating our health workers to make them deliver the required services to our patients.
I will also suggest that if there is away of getting carteens such that these patients do not get to know what a friend is suffering from,may be could give him/her life.
Remain FB Ngegemi Q/A coordinator International Hospital Kampala (IHK).