Developing a model for Kigezi community resilience and rapid response to health challenges occasioned by environmental and climate change disasters

Description

Uganda like many Sub Saharan African Countries is highly vulnerable to threat from climate change and variability, globalization over-exploitation of our natural resources is increasingly leading to environmental degradation and contributing to reduced ecosystem services and disasters. Rukiga county of Kigezi has perceived risk from serious ecological damage and environmental degradation, soil erosion and steep slopes due to poor cultivation techniques. The forces creating emergency populations health threat are interrelated and often inseparable from one another and may result to repression or neglect. The consequent underinvestment in preparedness and over reliance on reactive responses is enormously costly. Disaster risk reduction to vulnerable community in particular demands significant attention and significant investment if loss of life, economic disruption, and social disorder be prevented (U N. 2015).

This study intended to review the state of disaster preparedness and determine a more robust effective emergency community – based preparedness emergency response to natural disasters and Kigezi citizen vulnerability.  The study will cover the entire Kabale District and will adopt systematic review to assess community previous emergency readiness to threats from natural disasters. This study will be carried out between the months of April and December 2022. The population stakeholders in the study will include; disaster prevention preparedness response team (national, district and sub County level), response committees stakeholders (health, media, NGO,) and representatives of communities. Suitable formula would be used to draw appropriate sample for the study from these different study key players. The study participants would be selected using probability sampling technique and number based on specific problem focus under investigation and not for easy availability, diminished autonomy or social bias. The study would be conducted through historical documentary review of the existing public health emergency preparedness, S O P lessons learned and is followed by visits:  infrastructures, services, administrations, capacity building strategies etc. furthermore, consultation of key players in disaster prevention preparedness and assessment of community engagement system in preparedness and responses. Study instrument developed from pooled questions based on the study objectives; planning and preparedness policies and practices, risk communication, training and simulation, surveillance, monitoring and evaluation, reports and documentation of relevant data.  Procedure for ethical approval for the conduct of the study sort for and application approval will pre-suppose further continuation of the study. The data analysis would be structured in line with the type of data generated from both quantitative and qualitative approach.