{UAH} THIS WAS PRINTED IN UGANDA BY A PAPER CALLED THE STAR IN 1984

“Mysterious Disease kills 100 people in Rakai”

 

A strange killer disease has struck the District of Rakai in South Uganda, killing at least

100 people in ten months. The victims of the disease, locally called ‘SLIM’, are youths

aged between 15 to 36 years. The worst hit area is Kyebe-Kannebulemu sub-county.

Hardly a fortnight passes without a death of one or more young men or women.

Mourning is everywhere and several people I met wear dejected faces, carry heavy hearts

and are living in great fear.

The disease has so far not responded to any treatment. All patients taken to various

hospitals have died. Investigations I made here indicated that the disease has been

prevalent in the district for over a year now. The disease, which started at Kyebe-

Kannebulemu, has now spread to Kyotera Township and Kooki.

A common characteristic about this disease is that all victims have at one time or another

been associated with the lucrative border trade between Uganda and Tanzania. Once one

has contracted it, one experiences intermittent fits of vomiting, diarrhoea, preceded and

accompanied by fever, high temperatures and profuse perspiration. Despite treatment of

whatever nature, the condition persists. Gradually, the victim loses weight and

progressively gets so emaciated that within a fortnight or month, he is reduced to mere

skin-on-bones with eyes nakedly sticking out of fleshless sockets. The sick young person

miserably and desperately awaits the imminent and inevitable end – death. Although

several people have consulted professional doctors, all people I talked to said they have

completely failed to get a remedy for this killer disease.

In the last six months alone, more than 40 people have died. Some families have lost more

than one of their youth. To mention but a few of those families, Laurio Nnoba of Kinyiga

village lost two twin sons aged 32 and another son following them. Ferdinand Kagezi of

Balole village has lost two sons and a daughter-in-law; Karko Kasujju of Gwanda village

has lost two sons, and recently three cases, namely Muluba, Bukenya and Nsamba were

reportedly taken to Mulago Hospital, Kampala.

The people I interviewed appealed to the government, especially the Ministry of Health,

to immediately embark on a plan to save the families of Rakai District

EM

On the 49^th Parallel          

                 Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
                    Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika machafuko"