KCCA drafting policy on urban health

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | With increasing reports of poor sanitation, urban food insecurity and malnutrition, Kampala City Council Authority-KCCA is drafting a policy that will provide guidelines for interventions into urban health.

Speaking to Uganda Radio Network on Saturday morning, Dr. Daniel Okello, Acting Director Public Health and Environment at KCCA, said they are currently consulting different stakeholders on the policy.

He said the policy will not only address issues of nutrition but also sewerage management especially responsibilities of individuals and government when it comes to preserving proper sanitation in populous environments where the majority are tenants.

As this policy comes up, researchers are urging government on implementation since most of what they put out in policies mostly remains on paper.

For instance, on Friday, the Infectious Diseases Institute released findings of an urban health assessment where they found limited literature regarding interventions into nutrition of the urban poor.

Dr. Jane Wanyama, a researcher based at the Infectious Diseases Institute who led the survey said they reviewed literature of 217 datasets but most of these were either old policies, out of touch with reality or were just on paper and have never been implemented.

She said they embarked on a study to establish why problems such as malnutrition, diarrhea arising from improper sanitation were persistent even as efforts had been made to stop them through formulating policies and coming up with innovations such as eco- friendly toilets.

She said they found that people remain uninformed about what should be done as policies are never explained to them and the population is never involved in formulation.

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