{UAH} Alcohol, hepatitis B stop Karimojong youth from joining UPDF
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Alcohol, hepatitis B stop Karimojong youth from joining UPDF
Mr Olweny said they got a few youth who were safe out of hundreds that had turned up for the exercise.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 30 2016
Maj. Cesar Olweny speaks to the few recruits who qualified for the training. Photo by Steven Ariong
By Steven Ariong
Moroto- Hepatitis B and alcoholism have shattered dreams of hundreds of jobless youth in Karamoja region who expected to join the UPDF.
Most of the youth who had turned up to be recruited into the force on Saturday at Moroto Boma grounds were screened by the UPDF recruitment team and found to be suffering from hepatitis B while others had been deformed by alcohol.
Maj. Cesar Olweny the UPDF spokesperson in Moroto described the high level of hepatitis B among the youth as unfortunate.
He said although the youth were crying to be recruited, the force could not take them because they would not manage to cope with the rigorous training.
"Joining UPDF needs someone who is healthy and energetic to go through the training not someone sick," he said.
He called upon the ministry of health to rescue the lives of Ugandans from the disease.
Mr Olweny said they got a few youth who were safe out of hundreds that had turned up for the exercise.
Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. It spreads through contact with the blood and body fluids of an infected person.
Others who were turned away because they were not born in Karamoja. To strike a tribal balance in the army, the recruitment has been targeting natives of particular areas where the recruitment is carried out.
Last year again on June when UPDF was conducting country recruitment many youth in the region were disqualified over Hepatitis B and alcoholism.
According to Dr. Filbert Nyeko, the director of Moroto Regional Referral Hospital, the disease has hit the region hard.
He said out of 700 people who went for the test last month, 15 per cent of them turned out to be positive.
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