Fighting Childhood Pneumonia in Uganda Essay

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Pneumonia, as Calkins and Palamountain (2017) point out in their article, Fighting Childhood Pneumonia in Uganda, remains one of the leading causes of death for children under the age of five across the world. As a matter of fact, more children have died from pneumonia related complications in recent times than from measles, malaria and HIV combined. This, in essence, is an indication to the seriousness of the issue – particularly in developing countries. In Uganda, for instance, “approximately 20,000 children under five died from the illness” in 2012; with the said figure being representative of “15 percent of under-five deaths in Uganda” (Calkins and Palamountain, 2017, p. 10). Various initiatives have been undertaken by both the government and INGOs in an attempt to arrest the situation. However, no single approach has yielded significant benefits. Therefore, taking the context of this discussion into consideration, the all-important question remains: what would be the most effective approach towards bringing down childhood mortality rates in this case? The key consideration on this front would be to make an impact with limited funding from INGOs over a specified period of time.

Discussion

Many approaches have been adopted in an attempt to battle childhood pneumonia in this developing East African country. It is important to note that despite this, childhood pneumonia still remains a challenge. Some of the approaches that have been implemented in the past, according to Calkins and Palamountain include; Village Health Teams, the Sustainable Drug Seller Initiative, the Patient Awareness Campaigns, Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Negotiations, and Healthcare Provider Training and Diagnostics. The failure to significantly bring down child mortality rates despite these efforts is a clear indication that at hand is a rather complicated problem.

One of the key issues that have limited the success of the said initiatives is cost. The Village Health Teams (VHTs) for instance could have proven too costly if they were to be rolled out across the country – especially given that finding volunteers proved a challenge.

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It is important to also note that overreliance on INGOs to fund initiatives with recurring expenditure over the long-term would be a gamble as donors could experience donor fatigue – with their exit being fatal and effectively eroding any gains made. The government of Uganda cannot also be relied upon as an effective long-term partner when it comes to the supervision of ongoing programs, especially where cost is an issue. This was clear in the Sustainable Drug Seller Initiative whereby there was an attempt to arrest childhood pneumonia via the enhancement of drug-shop sellers’ training and skills in the diagnosis as well as treatment of respiratory illness patients in the localities. In this case, “monitoring by the government was too infrequent to be meaningful” (Calkins and Palamountain, 2017, p. 13). The most workable approach should therefore be self-sustaining and require very little, if any, supervision or monitoring.

Proposed Solution

On the strength of the key issues raised in the case under consideration, the approach that would have the most impact would involve the fusion of infrastructural commitments and training. Donor funds could in this case be allocated towards the establishment of a drug manufacturing plant in the country – in partnership with the government and a pharmaceutical company of repute. The said plant would focus on the production of drugs to combat pneumonia. Already, there are experts who, according to Calkins and Palamountain, are of the opinion that this would help do away with the persistent challenge of childhood pneumonia mortality. One of the key advantages of this approach is that it would require a one-off outlay of funds with no recurring expenditure after completion. The concern of donor fatigue,….....

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