Uganda possesses a number of peri-urban landscapes blessed with cultural heritage of which one peri urban heritage site is thoroughly studied for urbanization impacts in this master’s dissertation. Naggalabi site among others, is highly prone to urbanization impacts directly or indirectly due to its location being very prime to Kampala City. The dissertation therefore assessed the impact of urbanization on this site using a spatial-temporal approach involving Object Based Image Analysis (OBIA) and Classification. It was aimed at quantifying, visualizing, and predicting the impacts of urbanization on this site to avail data for research on urbanization trends on cultural sites in Uganda which rather remains scanty, with impacts and effects not known, quantified or predicted in a scientific way. The research adopted both a qualitative and quantitate approach in design. OBIA and Classification of three VHR images between 2002 and 2015 were used to analyze the existing state and subsequent changes arising from urbanization of Naggalabi Cultural site in a spatial temporal approach. The images, IKONOS of 2002, WorldView2 of 2010 and a Pleiades-1 of 2015 underwent atmospheric corrections, geo-referencing/projections, pan sharpening, image pixel resizing, clipping extents, buffering, segmentations and rule-based threshold classification. Three Land Cover (LC) maps were derived for the respective years which were further modeled using Markov Chain Model for future predictions. Purposive sampling done on five informants with interview guides examined the names, nature and locations of cultural spots. A very good classification accuracy of over 85% based on overall accuracy and Kappa coefficients was obtained for the three LC Maps obtained for each epoch. These maps portrayed four LC classes that is, Vegetation, Bare land, Built-up and Background, which were analyzed visually and statistically for years 2002, 2010 and 2015. Results showed 13 cultural spots identified with varying names, roles, nature, visual appearance and physical state between 2002 and 2015. Explicit land cover conversions to built-up areas were identified. A lower annual land conversion rate from other land cover classes to built-up areas shown as 9.7% (2001 to 2010) while an increased annual rate of 12.6% (2010 to 2015). From 2002 to 2015, urbanization directly impacted on the site through amplified overall land cover conversion (about 54.255 hectares) from mainly vegetation and bareland to built-up giving an overall percentage gain of built-up to 189.5% with annual rate of 14.6%. Future trends analysis predicted continued urbanization at the peripherals, major roads and nearby towns of Kivu and Kimbejja by 2035. Policies on planning, training, conservation and protection of tangible cultural sites are recommended.

Background: Despite the fact that adequate nutrition is a fundamental right for all Ugandans, nutrition of prisoners has been over looked by researchers as a few studies on the nutritional status of prisoners have been published in the country. This research seeks to assess the nutritional status and associated factors among prisoners living in Luzira prison complex in Kampala district in Uganda. Objective: To assess the nutritional status and associated factors of prisoners living in Luzira prison complex in Kampala district in Uganda. Methodology: Cross sectional data randomly collected from 424 inmates of both sexes from Luzira Women prison, Luzira remand prison and Luzira upper prison. Proportionate simple sampling technique used to select the total number of participants needed from each prison site. The outcome of this study was nutritional status defined by body mass index (BMI) of <18.49 kg/m2= under nourished, 18.5-24.99 kg/m2 = Normal nutrition status and 25 ≥ kg/m2= Over nourished. Multivariable binary logistic regression performed to identify factors associated with nutritional status at a p-value of less than 0.05. Results: Among inmates within Luzira prisons complex, 4.2% were underweight and 2.7% were obese. Being female, [OR 5.93 (2.74-12.89)] and private cooking [OR 0.45 (0.27-0.74)] were associated with a significantly increased risk of overweight. On the other hand, chronic illness [OR 0.27 (0.09-0.77)] was associated with a significant risk of underweight. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, poor nutritional status is still a problem among prisoners. Therefore, appropriate interventions such as provision of therapeutic meals, nutritional counselling and rehabilitation to under-weight and obese inmates. UPS should consider introduction of fitness activities and other co-circular activities among the female inmates to have them more active during their time of stay. Nutritional counselling and dietary planning sessions should be introduced to inmates with special emphasis to those involved in private meal preparation.

Personality traits, perceived social support and depression among youths living with HIV/AIDS. To assess the relationship of personality traits, perceived social support and depression among youths living with HIV/AIDS. The objectives are, to determine the personality traits of youths living with HIV/AIDS, to assess the level of depression among youths living with HIV/AIDS, to establish the relationship between perceived social support and depression among youths living with HIV/AIDS, to find out the relationship between personality traits and perceived social support among youths living with HIV/AIDS. Respondents were only youths living with HIV/AIDS aged between 15 to 35 years of age; a simple random method was used to give all possible subsets an equal probability to be selected to get fifty-nine (59) respondents. Correlation results in table ten showed that there is a significant relationship between personality traits and perceived social support with (r₌ 0.269, p₌0.039) the p value was less in magnitude than 0.05. Correlation results in table 13 indicate a negative degree significant relationship between personality traits and depression among youths living with HIV/AIDS (r₌0.463, p₌0.000), the p value which was 0.00 was less in magnitude than 0.01. Correlation results in table 14 indicate a high negative degree significant relationship between perceived social support and depression among youths living with HIV/AIDS in Kampala district. (r₌ -0.510, p₌0.000), the p value was less in magnitude implying that we had to maintain the alternative hypothesis. In conclusion, results imply that when a person measures in on introversion, s/he is more likely to perceive high social support and a person who measures low on extraversion (introvert) is less likely to perceive high levels of social support. Results also implied that youths who measure high in extraversion and agreeable to experience are less vulnerable to get depression compared to their counterparts, and finally results meant that youths who have high levels of perceived social support are not prone to depression.

Background: Diarrheal diseases are the second leading cause of death among children under five. Globally, over 1.7 billion diarrheal cases among infants are recorded every year contributing to about 525,000 deaths in the world a majority occurring in Africa and South Asia. Uganda registers 16,573 deaths among infants with a prevalence of 20% due to diarrheal diseases. Nakapiripirit on the other hand has a prevalence of 24% which is higher than the national statistics. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine prevalence and factors associated with childhood diarrhea so as to reduce the prevalence of diarrheal diseases in Namalu sub-county, Nakapiripirit district. Methodology: A cross-sectional study involving both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection was conducted. 246 mothers with children under five at households were randomly selected using a multistage sampling technique, and the Health facility was purposively selected. DHO and VHT members were involved in the study. Data from Epi-collect 5 software was analysed using EPI INFO 7.2.2.6 software and the dependent variable was prevalence of diarrhoea. Association between factors was determined by chi-square with a p-value at 95% level of significance. The output was stated in crude odds ratios, 95% confidence intervals (CI) and P-values. Results: Most respondents were females with an average age 27.15 (5.53). The prevalence was 43.90%. Most mothers sought private health facilities 54.63%. The factors associated with the prevalence of diarrhea were mothers’ age (20-24) years (P<0.0197), Households without latrines (P<0.0000), latrine distance of (25-29) meters (P<0.0213), and not separating the drinking-water container (P<0.0002). Low level of knowledge (P<0.0094) and poor attitude (P<0.0383) were among others. Conclusion and recommendation: The prevalence of diarrhea is too high. Government and other stakeholders should increase on health education basing on CLTS-approach and family planning in households.

The burden of unintended pregnancies problem is global, although it mostly lies in low income countries with an unmet need for effective contraception of over 222 million women including 17.8 million HIV+ women worldwide. Dolutegravir (DTG) is a highly active drug antiretroviral treatment (ART) that could be unsafe in pregnancy as it may result in congenital anomalies for the newborn. This study aimed to investigate the uptake of contraceptive services and the factors affecting the uptake of contraceptive services among HIV positive women of reproductive age who are on DTG. This was a crossectional study of quantitative and qualitative research methods. It was conducted at 5 KCCA health ercenters that offer DTG ART. We included 359 HIV+ women aged 15-49 years who were taking DTG, excluding the pregnant ones. Data was collected by using interviewer administered questionnaires and 12 in-depth interviews. Quantitative Data was cleaned and analysed using STATA version 14 and Poisson regression was done at multivariate. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. Of the 359 participants, the mean age was 37(SD=6.8), half 50.7% had attained primary level of education and average monthly income <100,000Ushs. The overall level of Contraceptive uptake was 38.4%, modern contraceptive uptake was 37.6% and 96.4% of the participants had knowledge of contraceptives. The most utilised method was the injectable at 58.4% followed by condoms 15%, IUD 10.7%, pills 6.4%, implants 5.4%, and least used was sterilization at 0.7%. According to the qualitative interviews, ‘women chose to use injectable because it was safe, effective, reversible and the partners could not easily find out about it”. Predictor factors that increased likelihood of contraceptive uptake were; religion of others category AIRR=1.53(95% CI: 1.01, 2.29) and parity 3-4 children AIRR=1.48(95% CI: 1.14, 1.92). Reduced rates were observed for age 40-49 years AIRR=0.45(95% CI: 0.21, 0.94), unemployment AIRR 0.63(95% CI: 0.42, 0.94), not discussing FP with partner AIRR=0.39(95% CI: 0.29, 0.52) and not receiving FP counselling AIRR=2.86 (95% CI: 0.12, 0.73). Non-significant variables were facility, education level, marital status, sexual activity, experienced side effects of FP and knowledge on both contraceptives and DTG. This study shows a low-level uptake of contraceptives and injectable was the most used method. It also indicated that FP counseling and partner discussion on FP increased contraceptive uptake. Therefore, more strategies should be put in place to increase male involvement in family planning programs and scale up the integration of family planning services into HIV care and management programs.

Introduction. Conjunctivitis accounts for 30% of all patient visits due to ocular symptoms in United States, and a study done in Pakistan showed its prevalence to be 18.3%. In Africa, few studies have been done. Among these wasone done in Nigeria that showed the prevelance of bacterial conjunctivitis to be 1.1% among ocular morbidities. An estimated 30 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa are affected by conjunctivitis and of these, 60% are self-limiting within one to two weeks. Conjunctivitis poses an increased risk of developing keratitis and Corneal ulcerations which could result into blindness and visual impairment. In sub Saharan Africa and it’s severe complications are a result of poor management, Despite the commonality of the disease in this region, there is a paucity of published literature on the occurrence of bacterial conjunctivitis. This study thus aimed at establishing the bacteriological profile and factors associated with bacterial conjunctivitis among patients attending the MNRH ophthalmology clinic. General objective: : To determine the bacteriological profile,culture,sensitivity and factors associated with bacterial conjunctivitis among patients seen at Mulago National Referral Hospital. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study with 82 participants selected consecutively from The consultants clinic and OCO (Ophthalmic clinical officer) clinic of Mulago National Referral Hospital between January and March 2020. An informed consent was obtained and using a pretested questionnaire, information on socio-demographics and clinical presentation was obtained. A conjunctival swab was taken from each of the patients and thereafter sent for laboratory analysis to establish the bacterial profiles and antibiotic susceptibility. Data was analyzed using Stata 14.0 and results summarized into fequency, proportions, tables,box plot, graphs and bivariate and multivariate levels. Results: A total of 82 participants were recruited to the study. The median age of the participants 30 years (IQR 16-48). More than half of the participants were male 51/82 (62.2%). The proportion of participants with bacterial conjunctivitis was significantly higher among participants aged 10-24.9 years compared to those aged 25 and above (aPR = 1.89, 95%CI 1.18-3.03, p = 0.008). The most common isolated bacteria in this study was S. aureus and the bacteria was generally sensitive to ciprofloxacin with resistant percentages less than 20%. Almost 95% of the bacteria were susceptible to ciprofloxacin and 90% were susceptible to chloramphenicol. Most of the bacteria were found to be resistant to Trimethoprim, penicillin G, co-trimoxazole, ampicillin and augmentin. Conclusion and Recommenadtions: This study showed that of the patients diagnosed with microbial infections at ophthalmology clinics in MNRH, 51% had bacterial conjunctivitis, mainly caused by gram-positive bacteria especially S. aureus. Age was significantly associated with bacterial conjunctivitis. Most of the bacteria that cause conjunctivitis were sensitive to the available antibiotics (chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin and clindamycin). We recommend that clinicians are critical when diagnosing patients with conjunctival infections to avoid missing out on bacterial conjunctivitis.

This study examined the factors associated with teenage pregnancy among women aged 15-19 in Uganda basing on data from the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS). The study analyzed 4276 weighted cases of teenage women in STATA version 15. Chi-square tests and binary logistic regression were used to examine the factors associated with teenage pregnancy. Results showed that 25% of the respondents gave their first birth or were currently pregnant in their teen age. At bivariate chi-square results showed that age of the respondents, sex of the household head, place of residence, highest level of education, marital status, wealth quintile, respondents’ knowledge and use of family planning methods were significantly associated with teenage pregnancy among respondents. At further analysis using binary logistic regression, age, education level, marital status, wealth quintile, knowledge and use of family planning methods were significantly associated with teenage pregnancy where a unit increase in age of the respondents increased odds of getting pregnant during teenage, respondents that had not attained any formal education, those that had already been in union (married, divorced/separated or lost their loved ones), those from poor families and those that had knowledge and used modern family planning methods were more likely to get pregnant at teen age The study recommends the need for Government and other stakeholders like parents/guardians of teenage girls to advocate and encourage girl child education in the region and the country at large in order to reduce on early pregnancy among less educated girls and those no going to school. More so, there is need for more strict laws on early marriage and force marriage in the country in order to combat increasing teenage pregnancies in the region and the country at large.

The purpose of the study was to examine the corporate governance practices at Posta Uganda. This was driven by the fact that corporate governance practices are mostly the key determinants of Public entities performance and this is widely acceptable by scholars and policy makers. The study was guided by three specific research objectives, which included: - establishing the nature of corporate governance practices at Posta Uganda, assessing the challenges of corporate governance practices at Posta Uganda, and designing appropriate strategies that will minimize the challenges of corporate governance practices at Posta Uganda. The research design used was a cross-sectional quantitative survey, non-experiment, and unit of analysis was Posta Uganda staff. Primary data was gathered from managers, supervisors, and staff using a self-administered questionnaire anchored on the Likert scale range and analysed using SPSS to generate descriptive statistics including frequency tables, mean and standard deviation. Findings from the study indicated that the majority of the respondents agreed to availability of appropriate board, board provision of management information and insight, adoption of proper control mechanisms in place to guard against misuse and abuse of resources, conducive work environment for employees, the offering of technical expertise to the respective committees, corporate social responsibility were the dominant practices implemented by Posta Uganda with the average mean of 3.9. However, respondents were non-committal on the challenges, which include more significant influence over the board, the board makes decisions that do not favor stakeholders, conflict of interest by members of the board and or executive management in handling the affairs of the corporation, members of the board lack independence in decision making, members of the board serve beyond their statutory/mandated time, limited funding which affects the implementation of board recommendations and corruption. Dominant strategies were; reducing costs on board members, board independence, full disclosure of company affairs and effective risk management systems, accountability, transparency, and limiting political influence. The study recommends that government, non-government organizations, and other stakeholders sensitize public civil servants on the relevance and appropriate ways of implementing desirable corporate governance practices to enable them to operate in the public interest to boost their performance.

Background: Inguinal hernia is a very common condition with a lifetime risk of occurrence at 27% of males and 3% of females in developed countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, overall prevalence of inguinal hernia in men approaches 10 per cent of the population. Whereas patients in the developed world present quit early in the course of the disease, majority of the patients in Africa delay to present to the physician, often with a complication. Objective: To determine the average time to presentation to health facility from onset of inguinal hernia symptoms and factors associated with delayed presentation of inguinal hernia patients Methods: This was a Cross-sectional study at Mulago National Referral Hospital and the China Uganda Friendship Hospital- Naguru, involving patients 12 years and above, with inguinal hernias and presenting at the general surgical outpatient or at the accident and emergence unit. One hundred and eighty patients with a clinical diagnosis of inguinal hernia were consecutively recruited. The duration from onset of symptoms to presentation was determined and classified as early or delayed presentation. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were computed to determine the presence and strength of association between variables if any. Results: The prevalence of delayed presentation was 83.3% (95%CI 77.07 – 88.46). The average time to presentation to health facility from onset of inguinal hernia symptoms was 3.08years ± 5.2months. Six factors were significantly associated with delayed presentation; Distance from the health facility, Prevalence Ratio (PR) 1.01, P value =0.005, category of the nearest health facility PR 0.56, P value=0.015, employment status PR 0.65, P value = 0.04, perception of seriousness of symptoms PR 1.18, P value = 0.004, history of smoking P value = 0.017 and a history of alcohol use PR 0.81, P value = 0.014. CONCLUSION: The findings from the present study show a very high prevalence (83.3%) of delayed presentation among patients with inguinal hernia. Delayed presentation is highly likely in cases of proximity to a public health facility, unemployment, and long distance from the health facility, decreased awareness of the disease and alcohol consumption.

There is an influx of informally harvested timber on the Uganda market. This implies that obeying laws related to timber trade and harvesting is at one‘s discretion. The study was undertaken to assess the extent of compliance by various actors to the timber trade and harvesting regulations. It also sought to understand the barriers to formalization of timber trade in Uganda and identify viable pro-poor formalization pathways to minimize these barriers. Data on the actors operating with legal operational documents (harvesting license, transport license, trading license, income tax) and their number of interactions with various government officials in the past six months were collected through structured interviews administered to a random sample of 410 respondents in nine (9) districts of Uganda. Key informant interviews (KII) with 179 producers in the various forest types were used to collect data on timber harvesting technologies used. Data was also collected on the barriers to formalization of timber trade in Uganda as well as the options to minimize the barriers. This was achieved from 12 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with selected stakeholders at the national and district levels and 10 KII were held with policy makers in key ministries and organizations. The findings of the study indicated that the overall level of compliance to regulations by the timber actors was low at only 13%. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed that the level of compliance between the different actors was significantly different (P<0.05) across the timber value chain. The transporters were the most compliant at 25% while the integrated actors were found to be the least compliant at 8%. A Chi-square test showed that there was a significant statistical association between technology used in timber production and the forest types (X2= 95.1397, P<0.05). The free-hand operated chainsaw production technology was found to be associated with natural forests on private land. The factors hindering timber actors from formalizing were identified and categorized into technical, policy, economic, political, institutional as well as capacity barriers. The weighted average score technique of the ranked barriers indicated technical, policy and economic as the most important timber trade formalization barriers in Uganda. The study recommended improved technology for chain of custody and conversion of logs into timber. The rules and regulations required for formalization should be simplified for instance decentralization of registration of timber trade to district local governments amongst the proposed strategies that can address barriers to formal timber trade in Uganda.