Dysentery rampant in Nakasongola

By Dan nSalasatta Residents of Nakasongola who defecate in bushes and near landing sites, aggravate regular dysentery outbreaks in the district. They end up using such water contaminated with feacal matter for domestic purposes, thus leading to infection. “We get dysentery epidemics because people don’t dig pit latrines and their hygiene and sanitation practices are poor. They ingest the contaminated water without boiling it,” said Moses Zziwa, the District Health Inspector. Fortunately, such epidemics have not hit schools in the area because hygienic practices have been strictly observed there. There is no cultural taboo attached to digging or easing themselves in latrines, but people are resistant to behaviour change and laziness. “We have failed to enforce hygienic practices because some cadres in the administrative set up like the LCs, do not have latrines themselves. Most of them go to the bush. Where then does one get the moral authority to discipline the public over the same?” asked Chrizestom Kayise, the district CAO. Some district officials fear to execute sanitation exercises without the permission of political leaders who influence their appointments. District statistics show that 70% of the able bodied residents are lazy and confess that “since our district is sparsely populated and there is vast uncultivated land, there is therefore no need to waste time digging latrines instead of attending to our gardens.” Bushes around their homesteads serve as their latrines. Surprisingly, people 60 years and above have constructed permanent latrines in their homes explaining that they were taught to observe hygiene by the colonialists and that is why they have pit latrines in their homes.’ Those living near landing sites have an local saying that enyanja tenoga meaning you cannot fill up the lake with feaces. The belief is that the lake can never be filled up with human excreta however. “We are aware of this catastrophe but what can we do given the circumstance under which we are ambushed, said the LC of the area. The district has set up a task force chaired by Dr Sekitto, the Director of Health Services to sensitise the people to dig pit latrines and use them effectively. A total of 107 pit latrines have been dug since the outbreak of the disease. The task force has mobilised the local community at the landing sites to dig latrines. Kalungi has dug 42 pit latrines, Nabiswera, 15 and Lwampanga 50. However, eleven latrines out of the 50 latrines dug in Lwampanga have collapsed due to the sudden rise of the water table. The exercise has given a rise in the latrine coverage from 29.9% in 1997 to 56.2%. Twelve health units have reported an average of three to five dysentery cases since the outbreak in February. Justine Kajura, the District Health Educator, said at least 15 cases were reported between February and March from the 36 health units, some of them children in the barracks and the majority from the landing sites. Henry Sekiziyivu, the clinical officer Lwampanga Health Centre said some people had tried to build the latrines but were discouraged by numerous fills. Ms Florence Kalule, the RDC Nakasongola said the dysentery situation had been contained because the ministry of health had provided medicine through the DDHS office. “Our major challenge is that water sinks the toilets whenever it rains at the landing sites,” she said. The district is contacting mobile toilets companies in Kampala to start a pilot project there.