The purpose of the project is to promote and protect the social, economic and physical welfare of vulnerable populations in Jinja, Uganda using local strategies to respond to health, economic and gender issues due to the COVID19 virus.
If the local ultra-poor population is provided government sanctioned face masks, then the local population will be compliant with government policy, protecting health and highlighting government linkage to public service delivery.
4 primary Sustainable Development Goals have mutual areas of interest in support of this project.
SDG 3: Good Health,
SDG 5: Gender Equality,
SDG 6: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH),
SDG 9: Innovation.
Jinja is in the Southeastern part of Uganda. It is a small district found east of the Nile River and along the northern shores of Lake Victoria. Jinja District has an area of 767.7sq Km of which 701.9 sq km is land and the rest (65.8 Sq km) is covered by water bodies.
The district is subdivided into 3 counties namely, Butembe, Kagoma and Jinja Municipality. There are 6 Sub-Counties; 46 Parishes and 381 villages. Jinja Municipality has three sub-counties and 55 villages. Rippon Village is a vulnerable fishing village on the bank of Lake Victoria.
Health – Linkages include correlations between donning face protection and contamination. Given a 10,000 size population 7,500 will reach 75% of the population. 10% could potentially reduce cases by 20%.
“Results from a an influenza (H1N1) show that if N95 respirators are only 20% effective in reducing susceptibility and infectivity, only 10% of the population would have to wear them to reduce the number of influenza A (H1N1) cases by 20%. [Concluding] that, if worn properly, facemasks are an effective intervention strategy in reducing the spread of pandemic (H1N1) 2009.”
Published online 2010 Feb 10.
Mathematical Modeling of the Effectiveness of Facemasks in Reducing the Spread of Novel Influenza A (H1N1)
Samantha M. Tracht, Sara Y. Del Valle, and James M. Hyman
Dee A. Carter, Editor https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2818714/
Economy – The fishing village serves the local economy producing revenue and fish to the town of Jinja. Fishing accounts for % of the local economy providing a vital link to livelihoods, health and food security.
Gender – Linkages include impacts to women’s livelihoods, children’s nutrition/mortality rates, access to clinic support and educational opportunities for children. Acute income disparity impacts children resulting in lesser skilled population.
8 weeks: Producing 954 per week for total of 7,632.
