Yoweri Idiba, the Assistant Gulu District Health Officer in charge of Environmental Health, has blamed the malaria burden across the districts on the issue of mosquito nets, failure to clean home compounds and the persistent heavy downpour which has led to flooding hence creating a fertile ground for mosquitos.

Meanwhile, Dr Peter Mukobi, the Director of Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, has attributed the high cases as a result of persistent drug stock out to deal with the disease, failure by the community to seek timely medical care and failure to sleep under mosquito nets among others.

According to Mukobi, malaria is preventable but people do not take malaria seriously that is why the disease is very high and remains the leading cause of death in the region

He however, said they are going to work closely with lower facilities to intensify health education as one of the ways to fight malaria as they also lobby the government for timely delivery of medicines.

Malaria remains the leading condition among all OPD diagnoses for all ages accounting for 45.7% of all OPD attendances followed by cough or cold (pneumonia)at 17.7% %, and gastrointestinal disorders (no-infective) at 3.4%.

Uganda has the third highest deaths from malaria in Africa and some of the highest recorded malaria transmission rates in the continent, particularly in the areas around Lake Kyoga in central Uganda.

 Caption: Gulu Regional Hospital main gate {Photo by Ivan Tolit)

He said with the persistent heavy downpour the town is at risk of disease outbreak because all their water sources are getting contaminated as a result of the poor garbage management.

According to reports, the authorities have not collected the heaps of garbage for the last two months, making the town filthy with bad smell and experiencing an influx of flies within the streets.

Patrick Paul Kidega, the Deputy Mayor Kitgum Municipality, has admitted the problem and blamed the delays on the  limited space at the dumping site in Pinymunu village ,Labongo- Akwang Sub County which has gotten full.

He however, said they have more than 10 acres of land in Akwang Sub County and is being opened to expand the site to begin collecting garbage that  is almost swallowing the town.

Kidega further revealed that the long term plan is to hire a private company to manage garbage collection in Kitgum Municipality to avoid these delays.

Isaac Odong, a Public Health Expert, has warned that poor waste disposal is a big threat to human health, urging the authorities in Kitgum Municipality to immediately intervene.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO),improper disposal can lead to adverse health outcomes, for example through water, soil and air contamination.

Hazardous waste or unsafe waste treatment such as open burning can directly harm waste workers or other people involved in waste burning and neighbouring communities.

Vulnerable groups such as children are at increased risk of adverse health outcomes. Poor waste collection leads to environmental and marine pollution and can block water drains.

 Resulting flooding and other standing waters in waste items favour cholera and vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue.

Caption; A man looking at the piles of garbage at Kitgum main bus (Courtesy photo)