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Health
Why focus on health?
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Every 3 minutes someone in Africa is diagnosed with HIV.
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In sub-Saharan Africa, there are over 25.6 million people living with HIV, the highest number in the world, and the majority of these are women.
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The centre of our operations, Mayuge District, has a HIV-prevalence rate of 10%, one of the highest in Uganda.
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AIDS-related illnesses are the primary cause of death in women of child-bearing age.
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Around 29% of children in Mayuge are at risk of malnutrition.
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7000 women aged 15-24 are newly infected with HIV each week in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Nearly 60% of mayuge's population are below 19 years, 6% of girls between 12-17 have given birth, yet have limited access to Sexual reproductive health
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We provide quality community health-education and support to communities in need, with particular emphasis on developing HIV/AIDS awareness, reducing its spread, and helping those diagnosed.
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We have been running HIV/AIDS clinics and awareness sessions for almost 20 years. Kathy’s Centre now provides a permanent hub for this life-saving education and also for our HIV/STI testing and counselling programme.
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In partnership with other providers, we also regularly offer drop-in health clinics and education sessions on topics such as nutrition, sexual and reproductive health, and opthalmology.
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We aim to improve access to and uptake of Sexual Reproductive Health (Antenatal, Maternity, Postnatal, Family Planning, Cervical and breast cancer screening, STIs screening ) Services by young women.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Project (WASH)
Safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene are crucial to human health and well-being. Drinking unsafe water impairs health through illnesses such as diarrhea, and untreated excreta contaminates ground and surface waters used for drinking water, irrigation, bathing, and household purposes.
Women and children in Mayuge walk approximately 2km from the village to collect water in jerry cans daily. Not only is this burdensome, but it is also dangerous. Most streams are in remote locations, and predatory men in the local area attack women and girls on their daily trek to find water for their families, resulting in trauma and unplanned pregnancies. In addition, the water from the stream was often contaminated and caused diarrhea and other illnesses.
Act4Africa water projects have so far provided access to clean and safe water to over 1000 families, which in turn enables us to address gender discriminatory practices against women and girls, who are usually overworked and bear the primary burden of fetching water.
Our safe water sources are improving the health and well-being of the entire communities we serve.
In 2021, Act4Africa supplied a borehole in Buwolya Village in Mayuge District, Uganda, with funding from our long-term partners, Morgan James Consulting. Until Act4Africa intervened, the people of Buwolya Village were relying on a contaminated stream for their daily water needs.
In 2022, Act4Africa, with support from Wilmslow Wells UK, sank two boreholes in the villages of Iwuba and Buniola, which were facing the same challenges as mentioned above. As a result, there’s a reduction in infections caused by the consumption of contaminated water, a reduction in infant mortality, and improved security for women and girls.
