PALMETTO MEDICAL INITIATIVE PUBLIC HEALTH PROJECTS

Masindi-Kitara, Uganda Health Statistics

Health:

  • One Doctor per 12,500 people on average (1 per >25,000 in some areas)
  • Ten infants die in Uganda for every 1 in the United States
  • Median Survival is 50 years (78/USA)
  • Major preventable disease is Malaria with up to 90% lifetime risk of infection
  • Over 300 people a day die of Malaria in Uganda
  • Major Infectious Diseases: Malaria, bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, chikungunya, plague, African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), and schistosomiasis, HIV/AIDS
  • The major disease burden on the Ugandan peoples comes in the form of Malaria. Ugandans carry a >90% risk of contracting the disease over your life. It is the leading cause of infant mortality (1 in 5 deaths)

Economy:

  • GDP: $11.23 Billion (Bill Gates net worth: $56 Billion)
  • Per Capita GDP $1,000
  • Average person makes $1/day, $365/yr
  • Greater than 80% of the workforce is in agriculture
  • More than 50% of the population is under age 15
  • Average number of school years: 10
  • Home to over 2,000,000 refugees (from Sudan, Congo, Rwanda, etc)

MOSQUITO NETS

  • Malaria is the #1 killer in Uganda
  • Ugandans can spend 25% of their yearly earnings on Malaria treatment alone (cost is $7/episode)
  • The average Ugandan gets Malaria 6x/year
  • Treated Mosquito nets reduce Malaria rate by up to 45% for 3 years!
  • 5 people sleep under one net (average family size is 5)
  • So, doing some simple math: One net can prevent 3 cases of malaria/yr per person x 5 people per net x 3years = 45 cases of malaria per net
  • Each net costs about $7 USD, so for $1000, you could get about 143 nets and prevent about 6435 cases of Malaria!! (Saving $45,000 over treating each malaria case individually!!)
  • With a fatality in certain populations of 5-10%, you actually SAVE up to 64 lives!

Clean Water and Hygiene

  • The World Health Organization estimates that 80% of all diseases worldwide result from contaminated water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene.
  • Helps prevent cholera, dysentery, and typhoid, parasites.
  • These diseases not only cause death and physical suffering, they also perpetuate the poverty cycle. When adults are ill, they often cannot work or take care of their children; the entire family suffers. When children are ill, they cannot attend school. Without education, there is little hope for breaking through the poverty barrier. Taken from: WATER MISSIONS – www.watermissions.org

Zinc Supplementation

  • Decreases length of diarrhea by 24% (up to 2 weeks)
  • Decreased treatment failure and death by 42%
  • Zinc supplementation has the same effect in prevention of diarrhea as clean water and sanitation

Anti-parasitic Medications and Oral Rehydration Solutions

  • School absenteeism drops by up to 25%. With proper anti-parasitic treatment.
  • Proper rehydration can reduce the death rate in severe diarrheal disease by >25%
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