Health – Bujagali Energy Limited

Bujagali Energy Limited cares about your health

admin — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 09:35:11 +0000

Bujagali Energy Limited cares about the health of the people within and around the project area communities. Access to medical services vary between these communities due to a number of factors including low income among households.

In May 2023, Bujagali Energy Limited collaborated with TASO and Budondo health centre (iv) for three-day medical camp providing services for dental, eye care, safe male medical circumcision, blood donation, cervical cancer screening and other general medical services to thousands of people from the project area communities.

Educating students on menstrual hygiene

admin — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 13:23:49 +0000

A study by United Nations Human Rights highlights that about 500 million girls and women don’t have access to resources for proper menstrual hygiene worldwide. Uganda is one of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa where menstrual Health management is still a challenge for adolescent girls and women. Uganda international Health management water and sanitation Centre established that half of the adolescent girls miss on average 1-3 days of school per month due to menstruation. This translates into a loss of 8-24 school days per year which implies that 11% of school days are lost.

Pupils of Budondo Primary School showcasing Pads donated by BEL

‘‘Bujagali Energy Limited (BEL) in partnership with AFRIpads (U) Ltd. started a grassroots initiative in schools within the area in which they operate to empower young girls on menstrual hygiene and to eliminate the stigma and taboos around menstruation,’’ says Jenifer Achanga the Environment and Social officer BEL.

Jenifer added that this programme was carried out by their sustainability team in 7 schools and was attended by both adolescent girls and female teachers. A total of 600 re-usable sanitary pads were given to the students in the schools.

Most of the teachers during the sensitization forums highlighted that the irregular attendance of adolescent girls during the menstruation period has highly been reported in primary schools by various teachers.

They further added that many young girls in primary schools receive minimal guidance on menstrual hygiene management and limited access to menstrual materials.

After the sensitization forum, the students were very enthusiastic about the session and promised to maintain school attendance during menstruation.

‘‘At the end of the day, it is important to help eliminate this stigma, especially amongst the young ones within the communities. BEL identified a need and that’s why it has included menstrual hygiene in their wellness programme to empower students in the communities within the area in which they operate, ’says Jenifer Achanga.

Borehole water relieves Bujagali area residents

admin — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 10:05:30 +0000

It has been about 14 years of deep community engagement for Bujagali Energy Limited (BEL) in our project area. Communities within our area of operation continue to enjoy access to clean water. Our approach leverages the funding of borehole drilling and rehabilitation of existing sites to meet the needs of thousands of people.

This year, as the world commemorates world water week from August 23rd to 27th, BEL has been building resilience faster by innovatively repairing the boreholes from February 2021.

‘‘The borehole repair initiative has so far benefited the villages of Naminya Kiira, Naminya Resettlement, Nankwanga, Malindi, Buloba, Wakikoola, Kikubamtwe, Kirugu and Bujagali, located on both the west and east banks of the dam.’’ Says Jenifer Sustainability officer BEL.

The community members have given positive feedback after the repairs of the boreholes stating that the volume of water from the borehole increased compared with the situation before and they no longer have long queues.

After the rehabilitation project of the boreholes, there has been improved access to clean safe water for the people, reduced amount of time spent collecting water and it also reduced community exposure to water-borne disease because initially, some locals had resorted to fetching water from the nearby streams.

BEL has reiterated its commitment to supporting households in its project area by providing access to clean water through the borehole project, especially during this period that climate change and COVID-19 have greatly impacted the world.

Budondo Community Outreach

Bujagali Hydropower Project — Fri, 22 Feb 2019 03:39:05 +0000

Background/ Introduction

The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) has existed for the last 30 years contributing to a process of preventing HIV infection, restoring hope and improving quality of life of persons, families and communities affected by HIV infection and disease. TASO receives funding from international and local donors. TASO is committed to realizing a World without HIV

The O&M Energy Uganda Limited (O&M) is a Ugandan company established by Gas Natural FENOSA and contracted by Bujagali Energy Limited (BEL) to operate and maintain the Bujagali Hydroelectric Power Plant. As part of O&M and BEL Corporate Social Responsibility Program, it contributes to improvement of health conditions in the people who live in and around the 9 villages that were affected by the project work. Four of these villages are in Buikwe district and five in Jinja district.

TASO,O&M and BEL corporate partnership held a 3 day comprehensive medical camp at Budondo HC IV grounds from the 20^th /06/2017 to 22^nd /06/2017 in Budondo Sub County. The camp offered health education, comprehensive HIV prevention services, well child clinic services, cervical cancer screening, prostate cancer screening, medical examination treatment for children and adults, dental and eye care services.

This medical camp was done together with Budondo health facility in extending these health services to Budondo community.

Key highlights of the activity

The camp was located at Budondo Health Centre IV grounds and the services offered included;
- Health Education to the general public through Educational talks by counselors and clinicians, questions and answer sessions, songs, dance and Drama skits by the TASO Jinja drama group and expert clients.
- Well Child Clinic for Immunization (against Polio, measles, Tetanus, Human Papilloma Virus (HPV); deworming; Vitamin A supplementation) Safe male circumcision to eligible men age 10- 49 yrs.
- Cervical cancer screening for women between 21- >50years
- Prostate cancer screening for men >40 years of age
- Family planning methods for women within the reproductive age both short term methods and the long term methods of contraception
- Sexually Transmitted infection (STI) screening and management
- HIV counseling and testing (HCT) to the general community
- Dental care
- Eye care
- General medical care where a vast range of disease were diagnosed and treated for both children and adults
Radio announcements and favorite DJ mentions were run at two radio stations i.e. Baba FM and NBS radios for 5 days from 15^th /06/2017. This was mainly centered on services to be offered at the camp in a bid to create awareness and demand in the population targeted.
O&M Energy and BEL provided the financial logistics needed for mobilization, transport, drugs and testing kits. The Jinja district Health office availed the premises where the Camp was held and TASO Jinja provided the technical expertise needed to offer the different services at the camp and the overall organization of the Camp.
There was community involvement throughout the camp through the local Sub-county chief, the in-charge of Budondo HCIV, VHTs, and SMC champions. They participated in mobilization and directing the people for the different service points.

Activity Outputs

Service	People served	Comment
Health education	1611	Topics covered include; • Well Child Health • Personal and home Hygiene • Good Health seeking behavior • Benefits of HIV testing Sero- status disclosure to partners • Reproductive health (Family planning, STIs, cervical cancer ) • Oral care • Eye care
General Medical Clinic	1485	All of them received a blood pressure check Commonest conditions included upper respiratory tract infections (URTI), peptic ulcer disease (PUD), malaria, peripheral neuropathy and sexually transmitted infections, hypertension
Cervical cancer screening	107	10 VIA positive and referred for cryo-therapy at Kakira Hospital; 3 had polyps and 1 uterine prolapse, these werereferred to Jinja regional referral hospital (JRRH) for further management.
Prostate cancer screening	35	I positive and referred to JRRH. Turn up of men was poor and majority were below screening age
Family planning services	22	5 implanon and Jadelle implants ; 11 Depo-Provera ; 1 removal of implant; 4 managed for side effects, I referred for Bilateral tubal ligation
HIV Testing services (HTS)	617	505 female and 112 male 9 were HIV positive; 7 linked into care at Budondo health center and TASO Jinja care. However 2 did not not pick the results and efforts to track them were futile.
Children and adolescents	582	43 children received BCG, polio, DPTHEB/HIP, PCV and measles vaccinations. Vitamin A and Albendazole for deworming , 295 children and 287 adolescents treated for various ailments.
Safe male circumcision	89 Volunteers	No adverse event was recorded. All recieved TT vaccination. 2 had a positive HIV test and were linked into care at TASO Jinja.
Dental care	231	212 necessitated extraction and was done. Conservation therapy was done on 19 clients by applying temporary filling. All received free tooth brushes and tooth paste.
Eye care	237	118 had presbyopia a condition which develops in age over 40 years and usually requires glasses which were provided, 6 were referred to the Jinja regional referral hospital for further examination and 2 for surgery, 111 received treatment the conditions diagnosed.

Recommendations

The turn up at the camp surpassed the set target of 600. For a similar camp there is need for more clinician to ensure all who turn up are offered the services they need.
The medicines budget should be enhanced to cater for the majority of the clients. Major drugs had run out by the end of the second day. Drugs for non communicable diseases especially hypertension should be increased so as to cater for the various needs of the clients. Neuro moderators like Nat B and vitamin B complex should be included on the list.
Eye and dental care services should also be extended to 3 days instead of 2 only.
Working within the Health facility setting and with the team of clinicians from the local facilities gave assurance and ownership of the process and this aided the smooth running of the camp.

Conclusion

The Budondo camp was a great success. About 1611 people received the different services at the Camp. Majority were from Budondo Sub County and few came from the neighboring trading centers like Namulesa, Mutai and Kimaka and districts like Mayuge, Iganga, Kamuli and Luuka among others.

[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”3″ display=”basic_thumbnail”]