Kampala Key, Vulnerable and Priority Populations (KVP) News

From what I hear, from what I have gathered and from what all the friends, colleagues and mates say, Kavuma was an up and about bundle of energy!  Death was the last thing on any one's mind. It is said that a typical day for Kavuma began early in the morning, do a hard run, get to the gym and work out. Then go for a meal and all the while checking for appointments to meet. It it were not a fashion audition, it would be meeting modelling enthusiasts. Kavuma was an unassuming mentor of others. Ebullient, exuberant, motivator and catalyst cannot begin to define him.  To Kavuma, the day itself was this diurnal/nocturnal red carpet. He would go through events, entertain, share a warm laughter and end off having uplifted so many. Many a smiles have been lit on many a faces. As it may, death snatched Kavuma and those who went to check, found him unresponsive. Thus began the sad news which circulated amongst those nearer to him. These in turn shared the informati

This story is of interest to those who want to read further about Ebola. It has been picked up from the East Africa.  "In Summary The vaccine is produced by Johnson & Johnson and is different from the single dose Merck vaccine that has been used over the past year in DR Congo. The health authorities in Rwanda have also ordered 100,000 doses of the vaccine for a similar campaign targeting traders. Response teams would then expand vaccination to whole villages where Ebola cases are confirmed. More than 60,000 traders in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo who cross the border regularly into Rwanda and Uganda are to be vaccinated to curb an Ebola outbreak. Cases recorded recently in the Congolese trading hub of Goma, which is on Rwanda’s border, and have raised concerns of cross-border spread. According to Jean Jacques Muyembe, the co-ordinator of the Ebola response in DR Congo - where the virus has killed more than 1,900 in the last year - the

A Check out  USAID Global Health for health info. This article is picked up from their website " A  mosquito bite is annoying for everyone. But for millions of people around the world it can also transmit deadly and debilitating illnesses such as malaria, Zika, lymphatic filariasis, West Nile virus, chikungunya, yellow fever, and dengue.  The mosquito’s ability to rapidly spread disease makes it one of the world’s most deadly creatures ㅡ and a top priority for the U.S. Government. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the  U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative  (PMI) provide critical funding for programs that fight mosquitoes and the diseases they carry. Over the years, preventive tools such as  insecticide-treated bed nets  have been highly effective at protecting millions of lives. But mosquitoes are constantly evolving, so USAID is  finding new and innovative solutions   to fight mosquitoes and continue saving lives. Learn more

DRC Woes: Ebola, Measles and Violence The Ebola outbreak has spread to a third province in the DRC. A story by Tim Cooks of the Global Health Network (GHN) 2 new cases, including 1 death, were recorded in South Kivu, more than 700 kilometers south of the outbreak’s source, according to Reuters . A 24-year-old woman died on Thursday after visiting Beni in North Kivu, STAT reports via AP . Her 7-month-old child is being treated. The woman had been vaccinated after being identified last month as a “high-risk contact” of someone infected with Ebola, Reuters reports. There have been more than 2,800 cases recorded since the outbreak began more than a year ago, according to a report in the H5N1 blog . Adding to DRC’s woes: Measles has infected more than 145,000 people and killed more than 2,700, Médecins Sans Frontières reports today. The organization warns of “an alarming lack of a response” to the country’s worst measles epidemic in nearly a decade.  Armed groups have kill

This article was picked up from Uganda Human Rights Watch Website. The human disaster of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome), which has devastated the populations of countries worldwide, is having an increasingly disproportionate effect on women and girls. Women now constitute the majority of infected adults in sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, and the Middle East. In addition to an increased physiological susceptibility to HIV infection, violations of women’s rights heighten their vulnerability to AIDS. Women’s subordinate position in marriage; unequal access to economic opportunity, medical resources, information, and education; and, discriminatory property and legal rights, are just some of the factors that sustain the escalation of the pandemic, and make women particularly vulnerable to HIV infection. Unremedied domestic violence, which is itself a widespread and chronic abuse of women all over the world, plays a critical role i

Rural areas of Uganda, have fast growing urbans and a large youthful population who are yearning to survive and thrive. Subsistence in these areas are based, quire-markedly in semi-mechanized agro-economy, with social services limited to households with yard gardens, roads, schools and hospitals. Agriculture is so laborious and the chores require spending long hours of the day in the gardens or farms. It is not surprising that many youths miss school. Crime is rising in these areas as well. It is hoped that equipping the Uganda Police with mobility equipments will enable them be mobile, swift and cover cases of crime in a timely manner. But, what about looking into mentoring and grooming efforts targeting rural youths? That remains to be seen too.  For those interested in reading about initiatives in rural Uganda please see:   https://blog.usaid.gov/category/power-africa/  and  https://yitug.wordpress.com/2018/04/19/mass-distribution-of-clean-cook-rocket-stoves-to-ove

Fast growing urbans and a large youthful populations are two dynamics, Africa needs to look into, design social development with quality life goals, ensure these fast-growing urban areas are a setting for subsistence and where t he girl-child self determination is engendered.  Pregnancies before the age of 18 years are rising, the girl-child is blamed and not the males who are supposed to be the fathers.  This trend is so common that families and communities have normalised such blame to fall squarely on the girl and not the boy.  Girls need   to be provided security and dignity affirmation through mechanisms such as: Rape Victim hotlines; courts and criminal justice system that deter these kinds of crimes; and community-wide initiatives to address crimes against the adolescent girl and young women. Equipping the Uganda Police with facilitation to enable them be mobile, swift and cover cases of crime in a timely manner is commendable.  But, empowering comm

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Winifred ‘Winnie’ Karagwa Byanyima of Uganda as the next Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). The appointment follows an open and wide-ranging search process.  Led by the Co-sponsoring Organizations and chaired by Dr. Natalia Kanem, the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the process included interviews and consultations with Governments and other concerned parties through the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board. Ms. Byanyima succeeds Michel Sidibé who was appointed as Minister of Health and Social Affairs of Mali.  The Secretary-General is grateful for Dr. Sidibé’s leadership of UNAIDS from 2009 to 2019 at the forefront of the global response to HIV and AIDS. Ms. Byanyima brings a wealth of experience and commitment in harnessing the power of government, multilateral agencies, the private sector and civil society to end the HIV and AIDS c

This story appeared in the Seattle Times and it is written by Maria Cheng of The Associated Press. LONDON (AP) — Winifred “Winnie” Byanyima, a former Ugandan politician and the current head of the humanitarian group Oxfam International, was appointed the new executive director of the U.N. AIDS agency on Wednesday. The previous UNAIDS chief, Michel Sidibe, left the post early in May after allegations that he improperly handled sexual assault claims against one of his deputies. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced Byanyima’s appointment by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, saying she “brings a wealth of experience and commitment in harnessing the power of government, multilateral agencies, the private sector and civil society to end the HIV and AIDS crisis for communities around the world.” In an email to Oxfam staff, Byanyima said she had “very personal” reasons for accepting the UNAIDS job, noting that she lost her brother Bernard to AIDS “as well as

Other than talking about the goodness of all humans, there are those in very powerful positions of power who would rather use their pulpits to preach hate. Not so, Fr. James Martin, S.J. In an article " Fr. James Martin: To Stop Hate, Faith Communities Need To Get Their Own Houses In Order,  " gives the hows, wouldas and shouldas! "Fr. James Martin, S.J. recently testified before a U.S. congressional committee on the role religious actors can play in combating hate crimes, and suggested, "the most effective thing they can do is to get their own houses of worship in order." Martin gave his video testimony (available  here  or see below) to the U.S. Helsinki Commission, an independent federal agency which monitors human rights as part of their mission. Several leaders from other faith traditions also addressed the commission during the hearings. Martin, author of  Building a Bridge  on LGBTQ issues in the church, began by invoking the 20