The right to rehabilitation of refugee survivors of torture is critical to the restoration of their human dignity. The study examines the extent to which the right has been realized in Uganda. The study explores the adequacy of the legal framework for the rehabilitation of refugee survivors of torture, their rehabilitation needs, available mechanisms, and challenges, before making appropriate conclusions and recommendations. The study adopts a qualitative methodology in the form of a desk review of primary and secondary sources, field observations, and key informant interviews and interviews to answer the research questions above. A total of twenty-seven (27) participants contributed to the study. These included nine (9) service provides from six (6) state and non-state actors, and eighteen (18) Kampala-based Urban Refugees of Congolese origin who had suffered torture in their country of origin or during transit en route to Uganda and had arrived in Uganda between 2011 and 2021. The study participants were interviewed after obtaining the necessary ethical clearances from the University School of Social Sciences Research and Ethics Committee (MAKSS REC), and the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST). The study established that although the right to rehabilitation for survivors of torture is provided for by various international and regional human rights instruments, it is not expressly stipulated within the domestic legal framework. Domestic law provides for judicial-based rehabilitation of survivors of torture experienced within Uganda’s territories. The study further established that refugee survivors of torture in Uganda have several interlinked rehabilitation needs, ranging from medical, psychological, social, livelihood, legal, protection, and general needs. Even then, there is a lack of a specific government programme for the rehabilitation of such survivors. Medical and psychological rehabilitation services are part of the general health care system, and as such survivors of torture, including refugees, seek rehabilitation from public and private health facilities, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs). NGOs also provide social, economic, livelihood, and legal services aimed at the wholistic rehabilitation of survivors of torture, while each government ministry, department, or agent is expected to provide the services that fall within its mandate. However, the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality of rehabilitation services is hampered by various challenges. These include an inadequate legal and policy framework as a basis for mandatory provision of rehabilitation services, lack of a systematic identification process of survivors of torture; limited capacity of service providers manifesting as inadequate human resources including language interpreters, health supplies, goods, and services. The refugee survivors of torture also face gender-based barriers to accessing rehabilitation services, and the challenges caused by the changed circumstances occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic The NGOs at the center of rehabilitation service provision are largely donor-dependent, leading to a lack of adequate financial resources for sustainable service delivery. Uganda should therefore conduct a comprehensive review of its domestic legal and policy framework to bring it into conformity with international human rights standards. Such steps would include, amending the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act to categorically provide for the right to rehabilitation of survivors of torture and for the State's obligation to provide holistic rehabilitation services for all, including survivors of torture experienced outside Uganda, through judicial and non-judicial mechanisms; enacting a legal aid policy and Act, revising the Refugee policy to include systematic identification of survivors of torture and the provision of livelihood support to urban refugees, and amending the minimum health care package to include trauma rehabilitation. Government should additionally fund NGOs providing rehabilitation services, and together with development partners increase funding for the rehabilitation of survivors of torture. Government should deliberately build the capacity of the health sector, including skilling the existing human resource to handle survivors of torture; and enhance collaborative efforts among stakeholders for effective service delivery. This would facilitate the provision of services towards the realisation of the right to rehabilitation of refugee survivors of torture.

Self-medication is the use of medicines or herbs on one’s own initiative or on the advice of another person without consulting a doctor. It includes the use of medicines that were prescribed for a previous illness for a current illness (Bennadi D, et al 2016). Self-medication also encompasses the use of the medicines by the users for self-perceived health problems or the continuing use of medications formally prescribed earlier. The scope of the definition includes treatment of family members specially to minors and elderly (World Health Organization, 2022). Medicines for self-medication are often referred to as Over the Counter (OTC) drugs. These are available from pharmacies without a doctor’s prescription (Pwar et al., 2019). The FDA (2016) defines OTCs as a drug product marketed for use by the consumer without the intervention of a health care professional in order to obtain the product. Medicines for self-medication are often referred to as Over the Counter (OTC) drugs. These are available from pharmacies without a doctor’s prescription (Pwar et al., 2019). These OTC however include analgesics which by Pwar et al., 2019 are the most used for self-medication. Analgesics are defined as drugs that relieves pain. Analgesics are classified as opioids and non-opioids (e.g. NSAIDs). Co-analgesics or adjuvants are drugs that have a primary indication other than pain but are analgesic in some conditions. For example, antidepressants and anticonvulsants also act to reduce nociceptive transmission in pain. The efficacy and effectiveness of any given analgesic varies widely between individuals. Analgesics also have a relatively narrow therapeutic window, and drug dosages are often limited by the onset of adverse side-effects. For these reasons, an analgesic should be titrated for an individual patient until an acceptable balance is achieved between subjective pain relief and adverse drug effects. (Michael C. Lee, Mark Abrahams, in Clinical Pharmacology (Eleventh Edition), 2012). 2 Globally Self-medication of analgesics has been on the rise, reports SHERAZI et al (2012), especially in economically deprived communities. The report adds that in developing countries, people are not only using non-prescription analgesics drugs but also prescription analgesics drugs as self-medication products, without supervision. Self-medication has been a problem for public health globally, especially in under developed countries where healthcare services are not readily available and socioeconomic factors resulting in the increased proportion of self-medication, says

Covid-19 lockdown was one of the measures put forward as a means of curbing down Covid-19 pandemic. It was a restriction policy for community or country to stay where they are due to a risk of spreading Covid-19 pandemic that could possibly harm the people if they moved and interacted freely. Additionally, during the lockdown, cases of domestic violence were common in families in form of fighting, intimidation, humiliation, manipulation, hurting and injuries. Therefore, this report intends to expose the emerging findings on the pandemic’s contribution on domestic violence and how government and support organizations responded. The research also intends to expose the different forms of domestic violence that occurred during Covid-19 lockdown.

Poverty is a pervasive issue that affects individuals and communities worldwide. In the context of Elegu Town Council, poverty conditions within the cultural community have been identified as a significant challenge. This research aims to delve into the causes, effects, and potential remedies for poverty within this community. The objective of this study is threefold: (1) to investigate the causes and effects of poverty within the cultural community in Elegu Town Council, (2) to explore the perceptions of community members regarding potential solutions to mitigate the cultural influence and effects of accelerated poverty conditions, and (3) to provide recommendations for addressing poverty within the community. A mixed-methods approach was employed for data collection. A survey questionnaire was administered to community members, capturing their perceptions of poverty conditions, causes, effects, and potential solutions. Additionally, qualitative interviews were conducted to gain deeper insights into the lived experiences and perspectives of individuals within the community. The findings suggest that poverty within the cultural community in Elegu Town Council is influenced by multiple factors. Respondents identified high levels of unemployment, political instability, inadequate access to healthcare, poor cultural structure, low agricultural activities, and land wrangles as contributing factors. The majority of respondents expressed a belief that something can be done to address the problem, with government intervention receiving the highest level of support. The research concludes that poverty within the cultural community of Elegu Town Council is a complex issue requiring a multi-faceted approach. Based on the findings, several recommendations are proposed. These include strengthening job creation and economic opportunities, improving healthcare infrastructure and access, enhancing social and cultural empowerment, resolving land wrangles, and creating holistic poverty alleviation strategies. Furthermore, further studies are recommended to explore specific areas in-depth, such as unemployment, government interventions, community perspectives on cultural transformation, and the long-term effects of poverty alleviation.

Mastitis in dairy goats was investigated with the objective of establishing the effect of management and the identification of the key causative agents through common diagnostic procedures of somatic cell counts, bacteriological identification and, for the first time in goat mastitis, by use of Polymerase Chain Reaction. A cross-sectional survey, using a structured questionnaire was conducted in three agro-climatic regions of Coast, Nyanza and Rift Valley, with goat keeping clusters serving as sampling sub-units. The focus of the questions was on housing, feeding, labour, water sources, record keeping, socio-economic status of respondents and availability of extension service. California Mastitis Test (CMT) was done at the farm-level, Somatic Cell Counts (SCC) and bacterial isolation were done in the laboratory. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) on the two key bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were subsequently carried out on 16 randomly selected samples representative of the three dairy goat keeping agro-ecological zones. The management survey indicated that 56.9% of respondents were peasant farmers only 12% of respondents could afford hired labour. There was evidence of scarcity of quality water, with only 9% using water from rain catchment and the rest depending on wells, dams and rivers. There was no training package on dairy goats. The CMT scores for the two key organisms ranged between 2 and 3, making it a reliable test for udder infection. Somatic Cell Counts (SCC) was determined for 239 samples with scores ranging between 0.248 106 and 1.693 106 with a mean of 0.869 106. This study demonstrated significant SCC variations amongst the breeds, there was also significant variation in SCC scores for various locations. Other factors in the study were lactation length and parity all of which affected SCC scores. The bacterial isolation showed dominance of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli respectively. The two species of bacteria are significant indicators of the state of hygiene on the farms. The PCR identification of the two organisms showed that they were distributed in all three regions of study. There is a need for more intensive studies on the various diagnostic tools especially CMT, SCC, bacteriology and PCR to enable the development of quality standards in Kenya for goat milk which do not exist at the moment.

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The study was determined on the impact of malnutrition on children Age 3-10 in Nakpangau Area Yambio county South Sudan. The study of (n=52) was conducted, the study had the following objectives  To identify the causes of malnutrition among children in Nakpangau  To describe the effects of malnutrition on children in Nakpangau Area Yambio South Sudan  To establish the possible remedies that can improve children’s nutrition in Nakpangau area Yambio South Sudan The determinants were measured using the questionnaire based on depth interview and closed needed questionnaire findings shows that poverty is the major cause of malnutrition with 62%, and death is the most effect of malnutrition on children in Nkpangau area Yambio South Sudan with 31%. And providing micronutrient foods is the possible solution to reduce malnutrition among children in Nakpangau area Yambio South Sudan.

The COVID-19 pandemic also affected Uganda, more severely in 2020 which resulted in the lockdown in the country. Education as an international human right is a serious aspect of life however, schools were not exempt from this lockdown which greatly affected the academic performance of students throughout the entire country. Schools were closed for almost two years and when they were reopened, it was hard for the students to catch up fast in school as mentally and psychologically the long period had affected the students and this resulted in poor academic performance. Therefore, this study is aimed at finding out the t influence of the COVID-19VID 19 lockdown on the academic performance of students in Buloba parish, Wakiso district. This study will also come up with intervention ways to deal with the influence of the COVID-19 lockdown on the academic performance of students. The study will be carried out with the use of the qualitative methods and the data collection methods that will be used include interviews focused group discussions and structure questions. The findings are to show that COVID-19 lockdown in line with the academic performance of students was due many different factors that including limited movements, limited access to resources, no class attendance, no physical discussion between the students and their teachers and many more causes. In this study, interventions are to be aligned to deal with the influence of COVID-19 lockdown on the academic performance of students in Buloba parish, Wakiso district was to set up policies like giving food to people during the lockdown like posho and beans , providing free vaccination and encouraging online studying providing gargets like phones and laptops to students to boast online studying and helping the parents that cannot afford to purchase these gargets for their children plus home schooling in order to keep the students active to maintain their academic performance.