Considering the COVID-19 global public health crisis, this paper examines the socio-cultural, economic and psychosocial impact of the pandemic on urban refugees in Uganda. We analyse the living conditions of urban refugees that make it problematic for them to adhere to public health measures. Since COVID-19 is perceived as “imported”, refugees are assumed as its potential transmitters, consequently experiencing heightened stigma and isolation. Lack of culturally and linguistically accessible information and services excludes them from on-going efforts to prevent the pandemic. The lockdown has affected refugee livelihoods and increased income insecurity, sexual and gender-based violence and anxiety. Given the paucity of government-led services to contain the epidemic, we argue that contingency planning must involve refugees and their communities to access accurate and relevant information in appropriate languages. It is also important to build the capacity of frontline workers to understand the specific needs of refugees to deliver appropriate protection in the context of the pandemic.

Informed consent in medical practice is essential and a global standard that should be sought at all the times doctors interact with patients. Its intensity would vary depending on the invasiveness and risks associated with the anticipated treatment. To our knowledge there has not been any systematic review of consent practices to document best practices and identify areas that need improvement in our setting. The objective of the study was to evaluate the informed consent practices of surgeons at University teaching Hospitals in a low resource setting.

Young women living in Kampala, Uganda, often face adversities related to Social Determinants of Mental Health (SDoMH) including poverty, food scarcity, environmental stressors such as high levels of community violence, and lack of adequate healthcare access. Two consecutive pilot studies were conducted to assess the feasibility and acceptability of survey questions, wearable fitness trackers, and daily diaries before launching a larger prospective cohort study. Preliminary associations between SDoMH factors with depressive symptoms, stress levels, and life satisfaction were examined among the total sample of 60 women across two pilot studies. A total of 32.2% of respondents (out of n = 59) reported being depressed most or all of the time in the past 30 days. Frequent depressive symptoms correlated with food insecurity (${\chi }^2$ = 5.38, df = 1, p = 0.02). Higher stress levels were significantly associated with lower overall life satisfaction scores (t = 2.74, df = 6.20, p = 0.03). Additionally, frequent depressive symptoms were associated with lower satisfaction scores in the living conditions and lifestyle domain (t = 2.22, df = 36.18, p = 0.03). However, overall life satisfaction scores and other domains (social relationships and personal independence) were not statistically associated with frequent depressive symptoms. Identifying the most impactful SDoMH factors among young women in Kampala can inform targeted approaches to improve mental health outcomes.

Background: Children under 18 years old constituted more than half (52%) of the refugee population in 2017. Adolescent Sexual and reproductive health is an essential component of primary health care. Yet, not every refugee adolescent is able to access sexual and reproductive health services. Methods: Using quantitative data from 356 refugee adolescents and qualitative data (17 in-depth interviews and nine key informant interviews), we examine refugee adolescent sexual behaviour in Bidibidi settlement—the largest refugee settlement in Uganda using a binary logistic regression model. Results: The results show that 25% of refugee adolescents in Bidibidi refugee settlement had ever had sex. After controlling for all factors, results show that refugee adolescents aged 16–18 years (OR = 3.47; 95% CI = 1.09–10.94), males (OR = 17.59; 95% CI = 4.48–69.07), not in school (OR = 14.57; 95% CI = 2.20–96.35) were more likely to engage in sexual behaviour than their counterparts. Refugee adolescents who do not agree that a girl cannot get pregnant if she has sex while standing up (knowledge about getting pregnant) were significantly less associated with sexual behaviour (OR = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.10–0.85). Conclusions: Results from this study show that keeping refugee adolescents in school and providing sexual and reproductive health information are likely to delay refugee adolescents’ engagement in sexual behaviour. Therefore, there is need to promote keeping refugee adolescents in school in order to improve sexual and reproductive health of adolescent refugees living in low-income countries such as Uganda.

There is an increasing recognition that suicidal ideation is a major public health concern in sub-Saharan Africa. We employed a case study design, taking a case study of adolescents currently under the care of Uganda Youth Development Link (UYDEL). The data analyzed were collected from 219 female and male adolescents (13–19 years) recruited through UYDEL in Kampala, Uganda. A Poisson regression model with robust variance was used to assess the risk factors associated with suicidality. The prevalence of suicidal ideation in the past 4 weeks and attempt within the past 6 months among adolescents was 30.6% (95% CI: 24.8, 38.0%) and 24.2% (95% CI: 18.7, 30.4%), respectively. The most stressful precursors of suicidal ideation or attempt included financial difficulties (59.5%), family breakdown or conflicts (37.4%), and trauma (23.1%). Suicidal ideation in the past 1 week preceding the survey was as high as 13.3% (95% CI: 9.0, 18.6%), of which 75.0% (95% CI: 55.1%, 89.3%) had a suicide plan. Prevalence of suicidal ideation in the past 4 weeks was significantly higher among respondents with moderate psychological distress [Prevalence Ratio (PRR) = 2.74; 95% CI: 0.96, 7.84] and severe psychological distress (PRR = 4.75; 95% CI: 1.72, 13.08) but lower among adolescents who knew where to obtain professional psychological care (PRR = 0.51; 95% CI: 0.30, 0.87). Similarly, suicidal attempt was significantly higher among respondents with moderate psychological distress (PRR = 4.72; 95% CI: 1.01, 12.03) and severe psychological distress (PRR = 11.8; 95% CI: 4.66, 32.37), and who abuse drugs or substances (PRR = 2.13; 95% CI: 1.13, 4.01). Therefore, suicidal ideation is a major public health issue among adolescents living in poor urban settlements in Kampala, Uganda. Psychological distress due to financial difficulties, unemployment, and family breakdown are major facilitators of suicidality among adolescents in urban poor settlements in Kampala. Interventions aimed at preventing suicide among vulnerable adolescents in urban settlements in Kampala, Uganda should incorporate this unique risk factor profile.

This paper examines the beliefs and practices that collectivism engenders in Uganda and how they may influence the principal-agent relationships present in the situation of “corruption”. Within some specific contexts of collectivism, vices that may qualify to be corruption may be interpreted otherwise as long as they are perceived not only serve only individual but also group or community goals. The paper shows that in some societies in Uganda, corruption or even theft can be acceptable as long as it is perceived to bring benefits to the family, kinship or community. The paper argues that the drivers and manifestations of corruption in Uganda cannot be understood without reference to beliefs and practices engendered by collectivism. It provides examples that show that in quite many collectivistic cultures, acceptance or rejection of corruption depends on the contextual interpretations of the act and the perception and meaning attached to the party to whom the act has been committed. In some cases, especially where the state has either lost or has never gained legitimacy among some sections of the population; stealing state funds may be interpreted as being “smart” rather than immoral. This tendency towards conceptualizing „corruption‟ as something that takes place only when the individual does not share his loot with others but enjoys its benefits alone contributes to making individuals shun the individual responsibility for their corrupt actions and complicates the moral issues related to corruption in the context of collectivism. It could be that the level of individuals‟ sense of responsibility for their actions in collectivistic environments is lower thus making interventions that solely focus on individual retribution less effective in combating corruption