NODDING DISEASE
The increasing incidence of Nodding disease that is mowing children from their prime in the Acholi region is soon exceeding epidemic proportions. The lacklustre response by the Government of Uganda towards this rather mysterious disease is one that is alarming. Today, over 3000 children have been reported affected. Two hundred (200) deaths associated with this disease have been reported. The delay by the Government to respond to this problem is an eye opener and speaks loud of the genocidal motives that the regime has against the Acholi people.
The nodding disease is a very frustrating, elusive and yet very progressive in its debilitation. Its impact on the victims is heartbreaking given the inadequacy of facilities, professional support and lack of political will to curtail it. Efforts are in place by various authorities, notably among them is the Center for Disease Control and World Health Organization. The CDC has been studying the natural history of nodding disease but they have not been able to identify the causes of this disease.
On the part of the Government of Uganda, nothing fundamental has been done to arrest the spread of the disease and to provide substantive support to the families that is losing their children to this dreadful disease. Clearly, the government cannot excuse itself for being broke. The kinds of money being doled out in frivolous compensations to the likes of Bassajjabalaba and the oil companies, surely could do a great job in extending some basic facilities and human services to the victims of nodding disease.
By now, a responsible government would have provided pediatric units in the three districts of Agago, Pader and Kitgum that are most affected specifically dedicated to monitoring this disease. These children need to have consistent care and clean environment to be nursed in. They need to be fed decently at least and treated humanely.
Most of Northern Uganda is experiencing lots of crises. There are many people living with disability as a consequence of the two decades of war. A lot are still infected and are getting infected with HIV. The overall picture is that most children live in grandma headed or child headed poor households. Given the terrifying demands of this nodding disease and the associated high cost of accessing healthcare, the impoverished elderly guardians are easily stressed and become sickly too.
Somehow, when you see the pictures of the children sprawled in hospital corridors in Youtube, you shudder inside and wonder whether these are Ugandan citizens. Is this a Uganda where its leaders fly in personalized jets; dole out millions for new cars for elected officials and pay out callous compensations to crooked businesses and yet it takes them years to rescue children in dire need?
The socio-economic inequity in Uganda is one that is glaring. But when it comes to the collapse of the infrastructure, people in Northern Uganda are still living marginally. In Western Uganda, when drought hits that part of the Country, the government declares a State of Emergency. This is because Western Uganda is home to the rulers and famed as cattle corridor. Cattle in western Uganda are more important than Ugandans in the North.
When Ebola came to ravage Acholiland, the government refused to declare state of emergency; when the war was intense and Northern Uganda was unliveable, the regime refused to declare state of emergency. In fact, when the Bududda landslide happened, it covered three villages and killed nearly 350 people. The government refused to declare state of emergency. But when drought hit Western Uganda, the government was quick to declare state of emergency.
The implication is dire; that cattle in Uganda are more important than human beings. Moreso, those in Northern Uganda are least valuable as we can see from this disinterest in responding to the plight of the children wilting away to the dreadful Nodding disease.
To let Children die in such humiliation is inhuman and should be treated as a form of genocide because children are the foliage of our societies. When these children die systematically or become permanently disabled due to state neglect, their entire generation will be at limbo and the generational gap in Acholi will increase. These children are the foundation of a new Acholi that has struggled to emerge from the debris of two decades of conflict.
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