MNCH Researcher

Nakisita Olivia

Nakisita Olivia is a student at Makerere University pursuing a degree in Masters of Public Health in Disaster Management. Her first degree was from Makerere University in Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences. She attained a two year diploma in Project Planning and Management from Makerere University. She has attended several short courses within Uganda and other countries in areas like project management, Monitoring & Evaluation, sustainable rural development, grants writing and an e-learning course in Disaster Risk Management coordinated by Resilience Africa network.

She has experience in working with vulnerable populations that are displaced as a result of disasters, that she attained during her field attachment with Medical Teams International the leading implementing partner for health in West Nile, Uganda for UNHCR. And she later participated in research on Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) in the displaced populations.

She is employed by Makerere University School of Public Health for the last nine years. Her work experience has been largely in Administration and she has participated in the implementation of several Maternal and New born Health projects. She has great interest in sexual and reproductive health.

 Dissertation Title: Use of modern family planning among refugees in Adjumani District, West Nile, Uganda.

 ABSTRACT

Background; Refugees are vulnerable persons with several needs especially reproductive health and contraception. However, contraceptive use among refugees is not clear. The study aimed to examine the use of modern family planning among refugees in Adjumani district and generate evidence to promote family planning services in the refugee settlements.

Methods; This was a cross sectional study. It was conducted in 5 refugee settlements in Adjumani district. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. A total of 667 women of reproductive age 15 – 49 years in 5 refugee settlements in Adjumani were interviewed and results from 663 women were analysed. There were 17 Key Informant interviews with resource persons conducted until saturation. For data analysis, quantitative data was captured in EPI info and analysed using STATA software version 12. Univariate, bi-variate and multivariate analysis was done. Qualitative data was analysed manually using thematic and content analysis.

Results; The median age for the respondents was 30 years. About 60% had ever heard about modern family planning methods. The prevalence of modern family planning was 22.5%. The most commonly used methods of modern family planning were condoms (46.2%) and pills (30.8). At multi-variate analysis, women’s partner being employed (AOR 4.33, 95% CI: 1.70-10.99), women considering family planning not against religion (AOR 3.81, 95% CI: 1.85-7.86) and husband’s approval of family planning (AOR 5.51, 95%CI: 2.27-13.4,) predicted higher use of modern family planning by women. While woman’s partner having no formal education (AOR 0.33, 95% CI: 0.12-0.88,) reduced the likelihood of a woman using modern family planning.

Qualitative interviews revealed low use of modern family planning methods. Majority of women use traditional methods to space their children. Men were reported to be responsible for the low utilisation of modern family planning by their wives. Health facilities have a limited range of modern family planning methods available.

Conclusions; In spite of the relatively high awareness (60%) of modern family planning among women in refugee settlements in Adjumani District, use of modern family planning was low (22.5%).

Recommendations; Efforts should be made by humanitarian implementers for health to ensure that there are interventions to address the challenges that affect the use of modern family planning methods.

Contact: onakisita@musph.ac.ug

Mubiru Paul

Paul is a graduate of Makerere University Kampala with both bachelors and master’s degrees in Statistics. He is the current Data Manager for the East Africa Preterm Birth Initiative (PTBi-EA) – Uganda.

His work is centred around maternal and newborn research to advance public health knowledge and information in this seemingly neglected area. In addition, Paul has also worked with TB research projects, Feasibility studies for CPAP, BABIES matrix and social surveys.

He has worked on several monitoring and evaluation (M&E) assignments as a lead statistician/consultant/data analyst including USAID, WARCHILD HOLLAND, ACME, Department of Social works and Administration Makerere providing technical expertise in survey designs, sampling, and methodologies. Paul commands good computer skills and very passionate about STATA software.

Mr Phillip Wanduru

Mr Phillip Wanduru is a Public Health expert with over 7 years of working in Uganda’s health sector. Over the years he has served in different capacities including: as a clinical nurse at a district hospital and a field coordinator of the MANeSCALE project. Under the Preterm Birth Initiative Project Phillip works as an analyst of the PRONTO Simulation training model. He is also coordinating the Prospective Preterm Birth Phenotyping work in Busoga region.

Dr. Muwereza Peter

Peter holds a Master of Public Health and a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. He is a Project Implementation Specialist on the Community in which Mothers and newborns Thrive (COMONETH) Project in Luuka District, East-central Uganda. Peter previously worked as a Senior Medical officer, in charge of a health Sub-district in Iganga District Local Government, in East-central Uganda. Prior to that, he was a Health Centre Manager of an AAR health Centre in Kampala. Additionally, he also participated in short term national projects including the avian influenza outbreak that occurred in Masaka, Kalangala and Wakiso districts, Uganda. Peter has special interest in maternal, newborn and child health and Quality Improvement. He has worked as a regional (Busoga sub-region) trainer/coach in RMNCH and QI for over 4 years. Peter’s focus now is RMNCH research and implementation of best practices with the aim of learning and improving the health of mothers, newborns, Children and Adolescents in Uganda.

E-mail address – muwerezapeter@gmail.com

Justine Kaudha Inhensiko

Ms. Justine Kaudha Inhensiko is a Research Assistant with Centre of Excellence for Maternal and Newborn Health Research, Makerere where she has participated as a field coordinator for a study assessing uptake, adherence and acceptability of Kangaroo Mother Care in Eastern Uganda, a field research assistant on the Communities where Mothers and Newborns Thrive (COMONETH), and on the MANeSCALE project. Justine has previously worked as aProject Officer on the HIV/TB and Health System Strengthening Project in Eastern and Central Uganda with Uganda Development and Health Associates (UDHA). She also worked as a Procurement Officer with UDHA and as a Procurement Assistant with Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA). Justine is a member and Volunteer with AIESEC Uganda and Red Cross Uganda. She holds a PGD in Project Planning and Management from Uganda Management Institute (UMI), a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management (Procurement) from Uganda Martyrs University (UMU), and a certificate in Good Clinical Practice from Makerere University School of Public Health. Email: j.inhensiko@gmail.com

Geraldine Agiraembabazi

Geraldine Agiraembabazi holds a Master of Science degree in Statistics (Bio-statistics) from Hasselt University, Belgium; a post graduate diploma in Monitoring and Evaluation from Uganda Management Institute (UMI) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Statistics and Mathematics from Makerere University, Uganda. She is an M&E Specialist on the Community where Mothers and newborns Thrive (COMONETH) Project in Luuka District, Eastern Uganda. Geraldine has previously worked as Biostatistician/M&E specialist at Health Monitoring Unit of State House, Uganda. Prior to that, she was an assistant lecturer in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the School of Public Health, Makerere University where she was also a coordinator for the MakSPH – UHasselt collaboration and a research fellow on the NOURISH Project. Geraldine has also been employed as a research associate/data manager at Joint Clinical Research Center (JCRC) and Medical Research Center/Uganda Virus Research Institute (MRC/UVRI) and a masters research intern at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in Pretoria, South Africa. Additionally, she has been a consultant for various short-term projects including the National Task Force for the emergency response to the Marburg Viral Disease in districts of Kween and Kapchorwa, Uganda.

Email: ageraldine07@gmail.com

Doris Kwesiga

Name: Doris Kwesiga

Organisation: School of Public Health, Makerere University, Uganda

Position: Research Associate

Contact: dknnkwesiga@gmail.com

Ms. Doris Kwesiga holds a Master’s degree in Health Services Research and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and Social Administration, both from Makerere University, Uganda. She is a research assistant in the INDEPTH Network Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Working Group. She is also the principal investigator for a study assessing uptake, adherence and acceptability of Kangaroo Mother Care in Eastern Uganda, and is a member of the Centre of Excellence for Maternal and Newborn Health Research, Makerere. Doris has previously worked as acting manager and research consultant at Global Health Economics Ltd, Uganda. Prior to that, she was an assistant lecturer at the School of Public Health, Makerere University, where she was also a researcher and the deputy team leader for reviewing the Masters in Health Services Research program. Doris has  previously been employed as a researcher at Child Health and Development Centre, Makerere, on a study promoting parent-child communication on sexual and reproductive health, and as a program officer at Kigezi Healthcare Foundation, Uganda. Additionally, she has been a consultant for various short term projects

Darious Kajjo

Mr Kajjo is a Geographic Information System (GIS) specialist with a Master of Science in Environment with advanced training in application of GIS in Public health, Disease and health infrastructure Mapping and spatial analysis. Darious has a long experience in designing and supervision of field surveys involving GIS/GPS Mapping. Darious applies GIS solutions in Public Health, Environment, Urban and Regional service planning. He has worked with Makerere University School of Public Health since 2008 designing and coordinating large Household and Health facility Surveys as well as leading GIS-facilitated Public Health interventions. Successful interventions have been; Expanded Quality Management using Information power – www.equip–project.eu/‎ (2010-2014), Saving Brains for High Risk Babies (HRB) http://www.savingbrainsinnovation.net/projects/0723-03/. Currently, Darious is a Field data coordinator for Preterm Birth Initiative (PTBi) Uganda http://pretermbirth.ucsf.edu/ptbi-east-africa.

Dr. Gertrude Namazzi Biography

Dr. Gertrude Namazzi holds a masters degree in Public Health (MPH) and a bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery (MBChB) of Makerere University, Uganda. She is a Research Fellow at Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH) in the department of Health Policy Planning and Management, and a member of the centre of excellence for maternal, newborn and child health. Gertrude has expertise in maternal and newborn implementation research ranging from community mobilization for institutional service utilization to health systems strengthening for improved quality of care. She is currently the project manager for the East Africa Preterm Birth Initiative (PTBi) in Uganda, a collaboration between MakSPH and University of California San Francisco (UCSF). Gertrude was a PI on an innovative research project looking at improved identification and care of high risk newborn babies funded by Grand Challenges Canada, and a Co- PI on a maternal and newborn health project funded by WHO aimed at improving quality of health services across a network of hospitals. She has participated in two WHO technical advisory Group meetings on preterm rates, and Postnatal Care.

Previously, Gertrude worked as an expatriate hospital director and District medical officer in post conflict Rwanda and East Timor respectively under World Bank funded health projects.

Email: namazzi_ge@yahoo.co.uk