sowm_2015__int__africa_full_report_low_res

irth attendants are more affordable and can be
made in installments. 101
A recent study found the National Capital
Region failed to meet national targets for maternal
mortality and contraceptive use. In addition,
data from the National Statistics Office suggest 1
in 5 infants who died in 2010 were in the capital
region (which represents 13 percent of the country’s
total population), even though the capital
has one of the lowest infant mortality rates in
the country. 102 Breastfeeding in Metro Manila
remains low. A recent study found that only 24
percent of young children had been exclusively
breastfed for the first 6 months of their lives. 103
Kampala, Uganda
The facts: Kampala has made good child survival
progress while also experiencing a relatively
rapid rate of population growth. Data suggest
under-5 mortality in Kampala declined at an
average rate of 7 percent per year over six years
of available data (from 94 deaths per 1,000 live
births reported in 2006 to 65 in 2011). 104 This is
one of the fastest declines seen among the 50 cities
with available data and the fastest seen in any
capital/largest city in Africa. At the same time,
Kampala experienced an above-average annual
population growth rate of almost 4 percent. 105
Uganda hosts a large number of refugees
(mostly from DR Congo and South Sudan),
suggesting Kampala’s population growth may in
part be attributable to in-migration from conflict.
Progress in this complex environment is
another reason Kampala’s success deserves praise,
and may serve as a model for other cities.
Kampala has also made good equity gains.
Progress reducing child deaths has favored the
poorest urban residents and the urban survival
gap has decreased. In 1995 and 2000, the poorest
urban children in Uganda were almost 3 times
as likely as the wealthiest urban children to die
before their fifth birthday. In 2006, they were
twice as likely to die. 106
How did Kampala achieve success? Kampala
has achieved good results from a variety of outreach
efforts that take health care information
Kampala, Uganda
and services to the communities where poor
people live. For example, family health days
in places of worship have helped promote
awareness of preventable diseases and reduced
their occurrence, according to Dr. Oundo
Christopher, division medical officer for part
of Kampala city. “Information sharing through
community radio and village health teams have
also helped,” said Dr. Oundo. “Through these
vehicles we get to people individually in the
different communities.” Currently there are
more than 300 village health teams in just one
division of Kampala, Dr. Oundo noted. 107
“Though we live in a congested place, sanitation-related
diseases are no longer problem,”
said Brenda, 24, mother of a 2-year-old boy who
is pregnant with her second child. “People now
take the initiative to collect their rubbish and
clean up their surroundings.”
Joseline, 35, a businesswoman and mother of
five, agrees: “Diseases like measles and malaria
are the only ones we still struggle with in our
area,” she said. “The sanitation-related diseases
like diarrhea, typhoid and cholera are no longer
heard of. We get health information from
the different door-to-door health personnel.”
Joseline added that clean water is not a problem
in her area as it was before.
STATE OF THE WORLD’S MOTHERS 2015 35