History, evolution and future of environmental health in Uganda.

This article explores the history and evolution of Environmental Health in Uganda under four key themes: training and practice; research; governance, policy and regulatory framework; and challenges. The article also describes the future of the profession. Through a review of documents and key informant interviews, it is noted that Environmental Health in Uganda dates back to colonial times when the country was affected by diseases including plague, trypanosomiasis and small pox. Concerted efforts were advanced to train cadres that would improve the sanitation status and address the prevailing disease burden. Over several decades, the Environmental Health profession has evolved in many areas of training, practice, research and governance, policy and legal framework amidst several challenges. The future of Environmental Health in Uganda will require more advanced training and research, broadened practice, and streamlined governance.

Water usage patterns in low-income urban communities in Uganda: implications for water supply surveillance.

The selection of water sources by poor households in three urban areas in Uganda is shown to be complex, with a range of communal water sources used. In all towns, significant numbers of households used multiple sources. An aggregated estimate of the level of use in the largest town, Kampala, showed little difference in the number of households collecting water from piped and non-piped sources. In the other towns, households in Soroti were more likely to use point sources than piped water and in Masaka most households used piped water, with unprotected sources the most common subsidiary source. Differentiation in use by source type was evaluated. In two of the towns no differentiation in use is seen. In Soroti, some differentiation in use is seen as the water from boreholes is widely used for drinking and that from other sources less frequently consumed. Supplemental water purchased from vendors was relatively uncommon in the towns, but two towns showed that many households collect rainwater for domestic use. The implications of these findings for the drinking water surveillance programme are discussed.