Abstract
The aim of this study was to identify the major challenges to community education and any health problem in Bushenyi district of South Western Uganda. Data collection was done through questionnaire and participants were randomly selected. This was a cross-sectional study carried out for a period of three months in 2012. A questionnaire was used to collect data and using onsite observations the responses were validated. A total of 260 participants from 65 homesteads were included in the study from 52 households. 144 were females and 116 males, of which 52.4% of the children were female and the rest male. The mean ± SEM age of females and males was 36 ± 8.6 and 29 ± 8.6 years respectively. In all the homesteads, 71% were headed by an adult male and only 29% were found to be headed by an adult female while none was headed by children. Inferential analysis showed (P = 0.02) that there are more females than male in the homesteads. Majority of the homesteads are being taken care of by women instead of men probably as a result of the high mortalities due to HIV/AIDS in the past decade and above all the movement of most men to urban centers in search of better sources of employment to support their families. Among school going age participant’s i.e. children and adolescents, only 59.6% were found to be attending school. There was no statistical significance (P = 0.16) between school attendance and age. Family responsibilities such as cooking for younger siblings by female participants, obligations on open market days are thought to be secondary limiting factors for community development and livelihood amongst young persons; thus a follow up study would be conducted to assess their associations in this community as this would raise major child abuse concerns which would need to be reported to the legal authorities for follow up.
Highlights
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as not merely the absence of disease or infirmity but as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being [1] [2]
According to the WHO, each member state of the United Nations (UN) has a duty to ensure that her people have the basic elements that would enable families and individuals to maintain good health and that they access good health care [6] [7]
This contributes to the stagnation of development and failure of the country to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) [15]
Summary
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as not merely the absence of disease or infirmity but as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being [1] [2] This has been a challenge for many countries throughout the globe to achieve since major issues like equity and equality have been and still remain to be major hindrance to achieving this goal [2] [3]. Despite the huge funds provided to improve health facilities and systems in Sub-Saharan Uganda, rural communities are lagging behind and are still lacking basic health requirements and education of children [12]-[14]. This has contributed greatly to the high morbidity and mortality rates in rural areas. This contributes to the stagnation of development and failure of the country to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) [15]
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