Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease, poses an enormous health burden in Uganda. Severe malaria is a life-threatening form of the disease and one of the top causes of death for children in Uganda. For my practicum, I’m working on an observational study of severe malaria in children at St. Paul’s Level IV Health Center in Kasese, Uganda. The objective of this study is to describe the epidemiology of severe malaria among children in the Kasese district. We are looking at aspects such as incidence of severe malaria, treatments received at St. Paul’s, and patient outcomes 14 days post-discharge. We hope that results may illuminate areas for improvement that will be shared with St. Paul’s and may ultimately lead to better care. The UNC – MUST – PHEALED Consortium, a strong collaborative partnership that has been working and implementing projects in the Bugoye area for several years, leads this study in collaboration with St. Paul’s Health Center.
I am personally interested in this issue due to seeing the effects of malaria in Cameroon, where I was a Peace Corps Volunteer for two years. During my time there, I saw first-hand the challenges with malaria prevention, and the morbidity and mortality caused by malaria in the surrounding communities. In essence, I was exposed to the realities of living in an underserved malaria-endemic region. Gaining an understanding of these challenges has motivated me to continue working on malaria.
I am lucky to be working with other highly motivated partners in Uganda on this study. I am directly working with members of PHEALED, the implementing partner in the UNC-MUST-PHEALED consortium, and two clinician research assistants at St. Paul’s. Despite collecting data every day, including weekends, the team has always stayed positive and remained available. There is an atmosphere of collaboration, combining the medical expertise of the research assistants with the research study expertise of the PHEALED study coordinator, project manager, and UNC team. Working alongside them has been an absolute pleasure.
Outside of work at St. Paul’s, I have the pleasure of staying in Bugoye, a beautiful village located at the foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains. There is superb Arabica coffee grown between 1500m and 2000m of altitude in these hills, and I enjoy amazing Ugandan tea each morning with breakfast. Working in the office with PHEALED staff is filled with relationship-building and laughter that breaks up long days of work. Additionally, the Bugoye community is very friendly and welcoming. When I go hiking or jogging, I usually end up with a trail of 10-20 children who join me for a while, giggling the whole way. While hiking up a local hill, four little girls ran up after me to give me a piece of jackfruit. Living in Bugoye is filled with joyful moments like these.
Although working on this study and seeing severely ill children at the health center is very challenging, I’m incredibly grateful to contribute, even in a small way, to hopefully improving care and outcomes for children with severe malaria in the future. These challenges are contrasted with the great privilege of being warmly welcomed in Kasese and Bugoye, providing me with an opportunity to fully immerse myself in the rich culture of Uganda.
– Jenny