Breastfeeding and Child Health in Uganda

The study sets out to estimate the effect of breastfeeding and health knowledge on child mortality and stunting. We used a nationally representative UDHS data of 2011 merged with the community section of the UNHS 2011 in order to bring on board community variables, such as distance to the health facility, that are potential instrumental variables. We employed various techniques; OLS, IV and control function during the analysis. We find that breastfeeding and health knowledge reduce child mortality but not child stunting irrespective of the analytical technique employed. Just as previous literature documents, the OLS estimate of the coefficient on breastfeeding and health knowledge is biased downwards compared to the IV and control function estimates. Government efforts towards sensitizing the masses about the importance of breastfeeding should be strengthened. Additionally, government needs to prioritize health knowledge impartation to women of reproductive age that are no longer in school. Additionally school curricular should be improved to include the impartation of health knowledge to students at an early stage of education in order to mitigate poor child health outcomes for the future generation.Keywords: Breastfeeding, child mortality, child stunting, Ugand

Female Education, Contraceptive Use, and Fertility: Evidence from Uganda

We use the Demographic and Health Survey of 2006 to examine the relationship between female education, contraceptive use, and fertility rates in Uganda. Our findings reveal that female education, especially at the secondary and post-secondary levels, increases the likelihood of using contraceptives and reduces fertility. As a result, measures that aim to educate women beyond secondary level are needed. The government programme to extend free education at the secondary level is an important measure that may help to reduce fertility and should therefore be strengthened

Export Composition and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Panel Analysis

This paper was guided by the hypothesis that it is not exports per se that matter, but different export components influence growth differently. We considered a sample of 35 sub-Sahara African countries based on availability of data on the key variables. Aggregate data were obtained from the most recent World Bank‟s World Development Indicators and International Monetary Fund‟s International Finance Statistics online facilities. Disaggregated data on exports and imports were obtained from the United Nation‟s Statistical Database under Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) Revision 4. The Generalized Methods of Moments estimator was employed during the analysis. We find that it is the growth in agricultural exports, and not manufactured exports, that is significantly associated with per capita income growth in our sample. These countries should adopt policies that increase agricultural exports in the medium term as they design strategies for increasing manufactured exports in the long term. Other factors significantly influencing growth are gross capital formation, capital goods imports, infrastructure, government consumption, and inflation rate, political systems and governance, and education

Export Composition and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Panel Analysis

This paper was guided by the hypothesis that it is not exports per se that matter, but different export components influence growth differently. We considered a sample of 35 sub-Sahara African countries based on availability of data on the key variables. Aggregate data were obtained from the most recent World Bank‟s World Development Indicators and International Monetary Fund‟s International Finance Statistics online facilities. Disaggregated data on exports and imports were obtained from the United Nation‟s Statistical Database under Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) Revision 4. The Generalized Methods of Moments estimator was employed during the analysis. We find that it is the growth in agricultural exports, and not manufactured exports, that is significantly associated with per capita income growth in our sample. These countries should adopt policies that increase agricultural exports in the medium term as they design strategies for increasing manufactured exports in the long term. Other factors significantly influencing growth are gross capital formation, capital goods imports, infrastructure, government consumption, and inflation rate, political systems and governance, and education

Antenatal Care in Uganda

BackgroundOver 99% of mothers who die of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth each year are found in developing countries. In Uganda, maternal mortality is estimated at 435 deaths per 100,000 live births. We sought to understand the factors influencing frequency and timing of antenatal care in Uganda in order to inform policy on the key aspects that need to be influenced. Method  We used data from the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) 2006 and employed both descriptive and quantitative approaches (probit estimation). After a probit estimation, we generated marginal effects to interpret the results as probabilities of utilisation of antenatal care given particular background characteristics.ResultsOn average, only 17% and 47% of mothers initiate the first antenatal visit in the first trimester and attain at least four antenatal visits, respectively. The timing and frequency of antenatal visits were significantly associated with education of the mother and her partner, wealth status, regional disparities, religious differences, access to media, maternal autonomy in taking a health decision, occupations of the mother and her partner, timing of pregnancy, birth histories, and birth order.ConclusionEfforts are needed to educate girls beyond secondary level, establishment village outreach clinics with qualified staff to attract the hard-to-reach women, and to ensure universal access to prenatal care services irrespective of the ability to pay. Media penetration should also be increased amongst the population and this channel can be used to disseminate a standard piece of information concerning what pregnant women should expect and do during the prenatal period

Socio-Economic Status and Malaria Prevalence among Infants: The Case of Uganda

The rationale of this study is to explain the link between household welfare, the region in which an infant is situated, literacy level of a mother and malaria prevalence among infants in Uganda with a more recent nationally representative data set that is the 2006 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey in lieu of the findings by other researchers on this particular subject. This was done with the aid of logit model estimation. The findings indicate that the region where an infant situated is fundamental in explaining malaria prevalence among infants. Alongside region is the location of a child whether he or she is in the rural or urban setting, the findings indicate that malaria prevalence lower among urban infants as compared to their rural counterparts. In conclusion, it was observed that malaria prevalence is not a case of household socioeconomic conditions but rather it's a communal disease as exemplified by the significance of region and urban-rural location of an infant.Keywords: socioeconomic status; malaria prevalence; infants, Ugand

Determinants of Diarrhoea and Acute Respiratory Infection

BackgroundDiarrhoea and acute respiratory infection (ARI) are leading causes of mortality and morbidity in children under the age of five in developing countries. On the African continent, pneumonia (14%) and diarrhoea (17%) cause more child deaths than Malaria (16%), HIV/AIDS (4%), and measles (1%) combined. This paper set out to investigate the factors associated with the occurrence of diarrhoea and ARI incidence for children under five years in Uganda. Method  We used a nationally representative Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) (2006). Sampling was done in two stages.  In the first stage 321 clusters were selected from among a list of clusters sampled in the 2005/06 Uganda National Household Survey (UNHS), 17 clusters from the 2002 Census frame from Karamoja, and 30 internally displaced camps (IDPs). In the second stage, households in each cluster were selected as per UNHS listing. In addition 20 households were randomly selected in each cluster.Questionnaires were used during data collection. During the analysis, a maximum likelihood probit model was used in order to ascertain the probability of occurrence of diseases. ResultsOn average, 32% and 48% of children in the survey suffered from diarrhoea and ARI in the two weeks prior to the survey date. The occurrence was concentrated amongst children aged 0–24 months. Mother’s education, especially at post-secondary level, reduced the probability of diarrhoea occurrence but had no effect on ARI occurrence. First hour initiation and exclusive breastfeeding reduced the probability occurrence of both diarrhoea and ARI. Other significant factors associated with the occurrence of both diseases include: regional and location differentials, wealth status, type of dwelling, mother’s occupation, child age, and child nutritional status.ConclusionPolicy interventions should target female education, eliminate location and regional disadvantages, and educate the population to adopt breastfeeding practices recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The government should also ensure proper dwelling places for the population that are associated with favourable health outcomes. Other proper feeding practices together with breastfeeding (after six months), should be made known to the masses so as to reduce the number of children that are malnourished and growth retarded

Determinants of Early Initiation, Exclusiveness, and Duration of Breastfeeding in Uganda

Breastfeeding practices in Uganda are contrary to the best practice recommended by World Health Organization (WHO). Only six in 10 Ugandan children below the age of six months are exclusively breastfed. This paper investigated the determinants of breastfeeding practices in Uganda. Using the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) of 2006, we employed probit and Cox\u2019s regression techniques as well as the Kaplan-Meier survival functions during the analysis. On average, 56% and 46% initiated breastfeeding in the first hour and practised exclusive breastfeeding respectively while 25%, 50%, and 75% terminated breastfeeding at 18, 24, and 26 months respectively. The mean number of months of breastfeeding was 14.1, and the maximum was 40. Hospital delivery increased the probability of early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding by 4-5% (p<0.01) and 7-8% (p<0.01) respectively. Prenatal care increased the probability of early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding by 6-7% (p<0.05) and 5-7% (p<0.05) respectively. Birth intervals less than 24 months increased the risk of early termination of breastfeeding by 19% (p<0.01). Hospital delivery and prenatal care should be made a priority, and mothers should be encouraged to adopt higher birth intervals

Is Uganda's growth profile jobless?

Despite positive output per worker contribution in the agricultural sector, it experienced a significant decline in employment rate, dampening positive contribution originating from labor productivity growth. Even the positive effect of shifts of labor away from agriculture to other sectors could not offset this effect, so that in the aggregate, agriculture reduced total per capita growth by 31%. By sectors, the growth profile in agriculture and manufacturing was jobless, while the growth profile in services and industry was job-creating. Hence the industrial and services sectors have higher prospects in future efforts to alleviate poverty via employment creation

Factors Influencing Childhood Immunization in Uganda

This paper investigates the factors associated with childhood immunization in Uganda. We used nationallyrepresentative data from Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) of 2006. Both bivariate and multivariate approaches were employed in the analysis. The bivariate approach involved generating average percentages of children who were immunized, with analysis of pertinent background characteristics. The multivariate approach involved employing maximum likelihood probit technique and generating marginal effects to ascertain the probability of being immunized, given the same background characteristics. It revealed that slightly over 50% of children in Uganda were fully immunized. Additionally, 89%, 24%, 52%, and 64% received BCG, DPT, polio and measles vaccines respectively. Factors which have a significant association with childhood immunization are: maternal education (especially at post-secondary level), exposure to media, maternal healthcare utilization, maternal age, occupation type, immunization plan, and regional and local peculiarities. Children whose mothers had post-secondary education were twice as likely to be fully immunized compared to their counterparts whose mothers had only primary education (p<0.01). Thus, gender parity in education enhancement efforts is crucial. There is also a need to increase media penetration, maternal healthcare utilization, and to ensure parity across localities and regions