Sierra Clark presented her work on AGI among the Batwa in southwestern Uganda at the Geography Honours poster session at McGill

Sierra is presenting her honours thesis work looking at the burden, determinants and experience of self-reported acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) among an indigenous Batwa-Pygmy population in southwestern Uganda at the Geography Honours poster session today at McGill University. We take this opportunity to congratulate Sierra on her thesis work. If you are interested in learning more about Sierra's work, please read her latest article, published in Epidemiology and Infection in December 2014:

Clark, S., Berrang-Ford, L., Lwasa, S., Namanya, D.B., Edge, V.L., IHACC Research Team, and Harper, S. (2014).The burden and determinants of self-reported acute gastrointestinal illness in an Indigenous Batwa Pygmy population in southwestern Uganda. Epidemiology and Infection, [Epub ahead of print].

Abstract

Acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) is an important public health priority worldwide. Few studies have captured the burden of AGI in developing countries, and even fewer have focused on Indigenous populations. This study aimed to estimate the incidence and determinants of AGI within a Batwa Pygmy Indigenous population in southwestern Uganda. A retrospective cross-sectional survey was conducted in January 2013 via a census of 10 Batwa communities (n = 583 participants). The AGI case definition included any self-reported symptoms of diarrhoea or vomiting in the past 2 weeks. The 14-day prevalence of AGI was 6·17% [95% confidence interval (CI) 4·2-8·1], corresponding to an annual incidence rate of 1·66 (95% CI 1·1-2·2) episodes of AGI per person-year. AGI prevalence was greatest in children aged <3 years (11·3%). A multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression model controlling for clustering at the community level indicated that exposure to goats [odds ratio (OR) 2·6, 95% CI 1·0-6·8], being a child aged <3 years (OR 4·8, 95% CI 1·2-18·9), and being a child, adolescent or senior Batwa in the higher median of wealth (OR 7·0, 95% CI 3·9-9·2) were significantly associated with having AGI. This research represents the first Indigenous community-census level study of AGI in Uganda, and highlights the substantial burden of AGI within this population.

Notes from the field: Kate and Vivienne's work in Uganda, January-March 2015

IHACC PhD student Kate Bishop-Williams and research assistant Vivienne Steele recently spent nearly 2 months working in Buhoma, Uganda at Bwindi Community Hospital (BCH).

Kate and Vivienne arrived in Kampala in late January with Dr. Sherilee Harper to meet with IHACC team members at Makerere University. After a very short visit in the city, the team headed into Buhoma on a caravan plane; ready to hit the ground running. Hospital meetings began immediately at BCH and facilitated a quick start to data collection. Kate and Vivienne’s travel plan was primarily focused on entering hardcopy health records into BCH’s electronic database where gaps were identified, and included generating a new database for additional climate-sensitive health outcomes.

Kate and Vivienne strengthened existing partnerships with BCH by offering to do an additional task at their request. Whilst entering data for the hospital that would be useful for IHACC as well, Kate and Vivienne conducted a health records system evaluation. The research required they conduct semi-structured interviews (11), a focus group (1) and a preliminary results sharing meeting. The research was loosely based on the CDC Guidelines for Evaluating Public Health Surveillance Systems. The interviews were conducted first and informed the participatory research and methods in the focus group. Proportional piling activities were used to prioritize resources for system improvements in the future. Similarly, in the preliminary results sharing meeting on Kate and Vivienne’s final day in Buhoma, the previous research informed the process. Based on the priorities identified in the focus group, the meeting participants were asked to sort the priorities based on the time required to complete task. Kate and Vivienne are preparing a plain-language report for the hospital presently, and will share the results with the hospital again soon.

Kate and Vivienne returned to Kampala for 3 days at the end of their trip to meet with the IHACC research team again and report back on their adventures. In addition to discussing the data that was collected from hardcopy records, discussions were primarily focused on generating additional recommendations for the health records system evaluation.

While in Uganda, Kate and Vivienne engaged in a variety of other community activities. Hiking, sharing suppers, shopping in town, visiting Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and hospital socials were great ways to integrate into the community and forge great relationships. They even participated in nurse training sessions for nutrition and had cooking lessons to make chapattis! Additionally, Kate and Vivienne took advantage of their time in Uganda to seek out wildlife at Murchison Falls in the northwest and at Queen Elizabeth National Park in the central west. They had the great opportunity to see elephants, giraffes, warthogs, hyenas, hippos, crocodiles, buffalo, antelope, and more! No lions, but both Kate and Vivienne hope they will see a lion in future fieldwork in Uganda.

Both Kate and Vivienne had a wonderful time in Uganda, made many friends in Buhoma and Kampala, and look forward to the opportunity to return!

IHACC emerging results e-booklets now available for Uganda and Peru

The IHACC emerging results booklets that were prepared for the UNFCCC COP20 last November are now available to read online as e-booklets. Links to the Ugandan and Peruvian results dissemination e-booklets are provided below. The Arctic booklets will be made available on the IHACC website shortly.

Didacus presenting at the Geography in Action! Brown Bag Seminar Series at McGill on February 27th 2015

Didacus Namanya is presenting his PhD work today at the Geography in Action! Brown Bag Seminar Series, hosted by the Department of Geography at McGill University. His talk, entitled "Access to health care in the context of malaria among Uganda Batwa indigenous people: A geospatial analysis", will take place in Burnside Hall room 426 at noon. All are welcome.

Didacus Namanya at McGill University in January and February

IHACC Co-Investigator Didacus Namanya has been visiting the team at McGill University since mid-January, and will be staying until to the end of February. During his stay, Didas has been primarily focusing on developing the proposal for his Doctorate degree (Makerere University), with the support of Sierra, Kate and other IHACC members in the Health Geography Lab at McGill. He has also had the opportunity to contribute more substantially to the planning of the upcoming annual project meeting as a member of the Project Management Committee. It has been a great opportunity for members working from different institutions to interact and share methods, study designs and findings. We wish Didas the best of luck in his graduate studies at Makerere University.