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.

Rebecca Wolff presented her work an a networking event hosted by the University of Guelph's Engineers Without Boarders club

Last Tuesday, Rebecca Wolff presented her work  as a keynote speaker at the "Sustainability in Designing for a Global Society" event hosted by the University of Guelph's Engineers Without Boarders club. The event was a networking evening focusing on discussions of sustainability and impacts in the global community. The purpose of the evening was to connect students, professors, engineers, scientists, technologists and other professionals to help them build their networks. Rebecca had the opportunity to present her IHACC work on a climate change adaptation case study in the Peruvian Amazon, touching upon water-based health issues.

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!

Rebecca visits National Geographic offices in DC

While on a trip to DC, Rebecca dropped by the National Geographic Society office to meet with representatives who helped fund her current research in Peru. It was a great opportunity to discuss her project, and to learn about the support offered by National Geographic to its grantees!

Kaitlin and Stephanie presented their work at the McGill Sustainability Research Symposium on March 13th

IHACC Masters student Kaitlin Patterson, and Stephanie Austin (TRAC3 and CCARG member), presented their research at the 5th annual McGill Sustainability Research Symposium March 13, 2015. Kaitlin discussed her research on food security among indigenous Batwa communities in Uganda, while Stephanie presented her research on climate change adaptation in Canada’s health sector. Here are a few pictures from the event. Don't forget to follow them on twitter! Stephanie: @se_austin and Kaitlin: @kaitlinaislin