School of Public Health (Public-Health) Collections
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
1 - 5 of 1065
-
ItemTrends of childhood vaccination in Wakiso District(Makerere University, 2026)Introduction: While immunization remains one of the most successful interventions in public health, the coverage has flattened over the last decade. And so many children don’t get a single vaccine dose and while others take vaccine doses partially. Objectives Main objective: To evaluate the trends of childhood vaccination in Wakiso district in order to improve the childhood vaccination services in the district. Specific objectives 1. To determine the trend of childhood vaccination drop-out rates for DPT 1 to DPT3, MR 1 to 2, to PCV3 and HPV1 to HPV2 between October 2021 and September 2022. 2. To establish the trend of childhood vaccination coverage in Wakiso district between October 2021 and September 2022. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study. All records of children who received at least one dose of the childhood vaccines were used in the study from October 2021 to September 2022. Results: The drop-out rates were very high especially for Measles Rubella vaccine and Human Papilloma Vaccine. The vaccination coverage was very low with Measles Rubella vaccine and Human Papilloma Virus vaccine coverage taking the lowest position. Conclusions & Recommendations: There should be strategies that decrease vaccination drop-out and increase vaccination coverage.
-
ItemEvaluation of the tuberculosis surveillance system in Wakiso District(Makerere University, 2026)Introduction: TB (Tuberculosis) has been a serious problem in Uganda and a lot of effort has been put in place to fight it and this led to creation of the TB surveillance system in Uganda. TB was introduced in Uganda following the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to reduce the prevalence of TB to acceptable levels. TB surveillance was introduced in Wakiso District in the year 2015 but since then there has been no evaluation carried out to establish its existence thus creating a need for this study to be done. Objectives The main objective for this study was: to evaluate the TB surveillance system in Wakiso district and in so doing, generate information that will help the District Health Team improve the implementation of the system. The specific objectives were: to determine the Total TB cases registered (all cases, all forms) from October 2021 to June 2022 and to determine the TB case notification rate for new and relapse TB cases for all forms per 100,000 populations from October 2021 to June 2022. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional study. The data was collected through the review of patients’ archived records. Raw data was then entered into Microsoft Excel and later exported to SPSS for further processing. Results: There was an overall increase in the number of TB cases and also there was a low notification rate for the TB although it was increasing at a slow pace. . Conclusions & Recommendations: The study thus recommend the government and its partners to put aside more funding targeted to the strengthening the TB surveillance system in Uganda with main focus on Wakiso district so as to minimize the morbidity and mortality caused by TB.
-
ItemThe utilisation of cytopathology technique at Makerere University Pathology Laboratory, Kampala, Central Uganda(Makerere University, 2026)Abstract Background: Cytopathology plays a central role in the early detection and management of benign and malignant conditions. Makerere University Pathology Laboratory (MUPL) provides diagnostic cytopathology services for patients from across Uganda. This retrospective study assessed the utilisation of cytopathology technique and evaluated predictors of malignancy from 2015 to 2019. Methods: A total of 400 archived cytopathology records were reviewed. Data on patient demographics, specimen type, and diagnostic outcome were extracted. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were performed using SPSS version 25. Chi-square tests and independent t-tests explored associations, while binary logistic regression identified independent predictors of malignancy. Significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: Of the 400 cases, the mean age was 44.2 ± 13.7 years; 68.5% were female. Cervical (31.0%) and breast (27.5%) specimens predominated. The overall malignancy rate was 24.5%. A significant association was found between specimen type and malignancy (χ² = 23.7, p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that increasing age (AOR = 1.05; 95% CI: 1.02–1.08; p = 0.002) and breast specimens (AOR = 2.94; 95% CI: 1.31–6.58; p = 0.008) were independent predictors of malignancy. Conclusion: Cytopathology utilisation at MUPL has increased, with high diagnostic yield in breast and cervical lesions. Continuous investment in cytopathology infrastructure, training, and quality assurance is essential to enhance diagnostic accuracy and improve patient outcomes.
-
ItemAssessment of women’s knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs towards cervical cancer Screening in Nakaseke Health Centre III, Central Uganda(Makerere University, 2026)Background: Cervical cancer is still a serious public health threat in Uganda, where cervical cancer screening uptake among who are eligible women is worryingly low. Therefore the understanding of women’s knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs toward cervical cancer screening is vital for designing context-specific interventions so to close the existing gap in the screening process for the cervical cancer. Objective: To assess women’s knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs toward cervical cancer screening at Nakaseke Health Centre III, Central Uganda. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 women aged 25–49 years attending Nakaseke Health Centre III between February and April 2020. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and logistic regression were used to examine associations between knowledge, attitudes, and sociodemographic factors. Statistical significance was considered at p < 0.05. Results: Overall, 72.8% of respondents had heard of cervical cancer, but only 38.5% had ever been screened. Higher education (AOR = 3.12; 95% CI: 1.65–5.91) and prior health facility exposure (AOR = 2.47; 95% CI: 1.34–4.55) were independently associated with good knowledge. Fear of diagnosis (56.3%) and cultural misconceptions (44.5%) were major barriers to screening. Women with positive attitudes toward screening were twice as likely to have been screened (AOR = 2.05; 95% CI: 1.16–3.63). Conclusion: Knowledge and screening uptake remain low in Nakaseke District, hindered by misinformation and limited access. Targeted education, inclusion of male partners in sensitization, and integration of screening into primary healthcare could improve participation.
-
ItemDeterminants of residual HIV infection among exposed infants in Jinja District, Eastern Uganda(Makerere University, 2024)Background: Mother-to-child HIV transmission has significantly reduced since the scale-up of multiple interventions globally, including in Uganda. However, with the annual new HIV infections at 130,000 and the lowest since the 1980s, the efforts fall short of the target of fewer than 20,000 new infections by 2020. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors associated with residual HIV infection (MTCT of HIV above <5%) among HIV-exposed infants in Jinja district, eastern Uganda. Methods: An unmatched case-control study was conducted on 198 (66 cases and 132 controls) infants paired with their mothers from 1st January 2017 to 30th June 2020. Cases and controls were selected using simple random sampling. Logistic regression was used to identify the factors associated with residual infant HIV infection. It was supplemented with qualitative data from midwives and HIV-positive mothers. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Sixty (90%) of cases compared to thirty-nine (29.5%) of controls were at high risk of HIV infection. Mothers who weren’t on ART before pregnancy compared to mothers who were on ART before pregnancy (AOR=6.9, 95% CI:1.84-28.01), without an HIV viral load test (AOR=4.06, 95% CI:1.09-15.04), with unsuppressed viral load versus those with a suppressed HIV viral load (AOR=5.80, 95% CI:1.53-23.37) and infants that didn’t receive nevirapine compared to those that received nevirapine (AOR=5.64, 95% CI:1.83-17.31) were significantly associated with residual Infant HIV infection. Qualitative findings showed that non-disclosure of HIV status, delayed PMTCT interventions, absence of PMTCT services in private and level-two public health facilities, poor maternal adherence to ART, not attending ANC and the presence of unskilled birth attendants took precedence in contributing to residual infant HIV infections. Conclusion: Late PMTCT interventions, limited access to PMTCT services, non-disclosure of HIV status, and poor maternal adherence to ART remain key challenges to reducing residual infant HIV infections among exposed infants in the era of widespread PMTCT services. Recommendation: There is an urgent need to improve access to PMTCT services in all health facilities that provide maternal and child health services to ensure early identification and initiation of ART for all women infected with HIV and to improve the quality of PMTCT services in health facilities.