By Timothy Okurut
The Ministry of Health, Hon. Remmigious Mutebi, has raised the alarm on mental health challenges and non-communicable diseases resulting from bad nutrition. In an interview with The Standard, Mutebi raised these concerns as part of the data collected from the just-concluded Health Awareness week under the theme “Healthy body, strong mind, safe living.”
“Students are stressed about finances and coursework,” Mutebi said. Speaking about non-communicable diseases, he stated that a number of students eat unhealthily and run the risk of obesity. “Most of them have a body mass index (BMI) heading towards obesity,” the health minister stated.
Mutebi also expressed concerns about limited health-seeking behaviour among the students. “They only think about coming for these services during the health awareness week, yet they are always available in Alan Galpins.” Due to this, Mutebi argues that some people run the risk of harbouring some health challenges and deteriorating without full knowledge of them. “It’s not a one-week conversation; that’s why we chose the slogan ‘Choose life’,” Mutebi added.
The health awareness week encompassed activities like aerobics, first aid training, counselling, blood donation and screening for diseases like HIV, cervical cancer and sickle cell.
This time round, however, there was a decrease in the number of health service providers who attended the week-long event. Mutebi attributed this to the sanctions that were slapped on USAID early this year. “Some of these organisations were linked to USAID, and when its funding was cut, finding those organisations became difficult.”
He, however, stressed that the ministry is committed to ensuring that a variety of service providers attend the forthcoming health weeks. In the meantime, he says his ministry has made contact with different health institutions both within the university and outside to offer health services during the health weeks. “We’ve gotten a collaboration with the Mukono Church of Uganda (COU) hospital,” he said. Within the university, the minister says they have partnered with the Faculty of Public Health, Nursing and Midwifery.
Going forward, he encouraged students to eat healthily, practise physical exercises and ensure they’re registered with the university health facility. “It’s important to have your biomedical data there such that when you get any challenge, they know where to start from,” he emphasised.
He also cautioned students in light of the impending ebola scare, saying there’s a need for them to limit their movements and physical contact with people. He warned that the disease widely spreads through a section of wild animals, especially primates: “We have monkeys in the university; if you find one dead, please don’t touch it,”
The health awareness week will return again next semester under a new theme but maintaining the objective of ensuring community members in the university live healthy lives.
