Gains and losses of the last decade
A child born in Uganda today will live longer, and has better access to safe water and education than he would have had 10 years ago. However, the child enters a more unequal society than a decade ago, with the gap between the rich and the poor having grown bigger.
By Vision Reporters
A child born in Uganda today will live longer, and has better access to safe water and education than he would have had 10 years ago. However, the child enters a more unequal society than a decade ago, with the gap between the rich and the poor having grown bigger.
Life expectancy at birth in Uganda was 43 years a decade ago, according to the UN Human Development Report.
It has jumped to 52 years today, an increase of nine years. Ugandan women can expect to live on average one year longer than men.
As a result, the probability of surviving up to the age of 40 has also gone up.
Only half of all Ugandans could dream of celebrating their 50th birthday a decade ago. Today, two thirds can expect to round half a century.
The increase in life expectancy is attributed to Uganda’s successful fight against HIV/AIDS using the ABC method. Adult HIV/AIDS prevalence, which stood at 8.3% in 1999, dropped to 5.4% in 2009.
Ugandans also live longer due to scientific breakthroughs in analysing diseases and developing new treatment, such as life-prolonging drugs for AIDS patients.
This comes on top of improved access to new medicines thanks to the availability of generic drugs and increased Government expenditure on health.
For example, Uganda has seen the number of people accessing antiretroviral (ARV) drugs jump from 45,000 in 2004 to more than 150,000 today.
The Government spent an average of $25 (sh47,500) on health per person in 2006, up from $16 (sh30,400) in 1999.
However, a child born in 2010 will also have a slightly higher chance of dying before the age of five than a decade ago, particularly when he or she is born in a poor family or in the countryside.
Child mortality stood at 131 per 1,000 in 1999 and has gone up to 137 per 1,000 in 2009, according to the Human Development Report.
A child born in the poorest 20% category faces almost double the risk of dying before the age of five than his age-mate in the richest 20%.
Also, a child born in a rural setting has a 25% higher probability of not reaching the age of five than his peer in the town.
About 40% of deaths among children in Uganda are due to malnutrition, according to the State of Uganda Population Report 2009. This is attributed to increased food insecurity as a result of climate change factors, and a population growing faster than its food production.
Uganda’s population growth is among the highest in the world. In the past decade alone, it increased by 10 million people – from 22 million to 32 million.
But while the annual population growth rate is 3.2%, the annual growth rate of food production is only about 1.5%.
In terms of education, Ugandan babies born today have a much brighter future than those born ten years ago. As they grown up, they will have access to free education up to the age of 18 under the Universal Primary and Secondary Education programmes.
As a result of the introduction of universal education, the number of children sitting for PLE has increased four-fold in 10 years.
And 84% of young people between 15 and 24 can now read and write, compared to 79% a decade ago.
However, drop-out rates are still high - only about half of all primary school pupils who start P1 reach grade five.
And with 12 million children now in schools, the teacher-pupil ratio has gone up to 57. The 2010 babies will also be able to choose among a much wider range of universities and tertiary education institutions.
While there were only 10 universities in Uganda in 1999, their number has increased to 28 today. Access to safe water also increased: two thirds of the population now has access to improved water sources, compared to only 50% a decade ago.
When the child born today is a girl, she will have a higher chance of occupying senior positions in society than 10 years ago.
The number of seats in Parliament held by women almost doubled – from 17% in 1999 to 31% last year.
She will also have more control over her reproductive life than her predecessors. Use of contraceptives among married women increased from 15% to 24% in the past decade.
As a result, the average Ugandan woman, who had 7.1 births in her life-time in 1999, now has 6.4 births.
A child born in Uganda today will live longer, and has better access to safe water and education than he would have had 10 years ago. However, the child enters a more unequal society than a decade ago, with the gap between the rich and the poor having grown bigger.
Life expectancy at birth in Uganda was 43 years a decade ago, according to the UN Human Development Report.
It has jumped to 52 years today, an increase of nine years. Ugandan women can expect to live on average one year longer than men.
As a result, the probability of surviving up to the age of 40 has also gone up.
Only half of all Ugandans could dream of celebrating their 50th birthday a decade ago. Today, two thirds can expect to round half a century.
The increase in life expectancy is attributed to Uganda’s successful fight against HIV/AIDS using the ABC method. Adult HIV/AIDS prevalence, which stood at 8.3% in 1999, dropped to 5.4% in 2009.
Ugandans also live longer due to scientific breakthroughs in analysing diseases and developing new treatment, such as life-prolonging drugs for AIDS patients.
This comes on top of improved access to new medicines thanks to the availability of generic drugs and increased Government expenditure on health.
For example, Uganda has seen the number of people accessing antiretroviral (ARV) drugs jump from 45,000 in 2004 to more than 150,000 today.
The Government spent an average of $25 (sh47,500) on health per person in 2006, up from $16 (sh30,400) in 1999.
However, a child born in 2010 will also have a slightly higher chance of dying before the age of five than a decade ago, particularly when he or she is born in a poor family or in the countryside.
Child mortality stood at 131 per 1,000 in 1999 and has gone up to 137 per 1,000 in 2009, according to the Human Development Report.
A child born in the poorest 20% category faces almost double the risk of dying before the age of five than his age-mate in the richest 20%.
Also, a child born in a rural setting has a 25% higher probability of not reaching the age of five than his peer in the town.
About 40% of deaths among children in Uganda are due to malnutrition, according to the State of Uganda Population Report 2009. This is attributed to increased food insecurity as a result of climate change factors, and a population growing faster than its food production.
Uganda’s population growth is among the highest in the world. In the past decade alone, it increased by 10 million people – from 22 million to 32 million.
But while the annual population growth rate is 3.2%, the annual growth rate of food production is only about 1.5%.
In terms of education, Ugandan babies born today have a much brighter future than those born ten years ago. As they grown up, they will have access to free education up to the age of 18 under the Universal Primary and Secondary Education programmes.
As a result of the introduction of universal education, the number of children sitting for PLE has increased four-fold in 10 years.
And 84% of young people between 15 and 24 can now read and write, compared to 79% a decade ago.
However, drop-out rates are still high - only about half of all primary school pupils who start P1 reach grade five.
And with 12 million children now in schools, the teacher-pupil ratio has gone up to 57. The 2010 babies will also be able to choose among a much wider range of universities and tertiary education institutions.
While there were only 10 universities in Uganda in 1999, their number has increased to 28 today. Access to safe water also increased: two thirds of the population now has access to improved water sources, compared to only 50% a decade ago.
When the child born today is a girl, she will have a higher chance of occupying senior positions in society than 10 years ago.
The number of seats in Parliament held by women almost doubled – from 17% in 1999 to 31% last year.
She will also have more control over her reproductive life than her predecessors. Use of contraceptives among married women increased from 15% to 24% in the past decade.
As a result, the average Ugandan woman, who had 7.1 births in her life-time in 1999, now has 6.4 births.