We've heard almost nothing about nodding syndrome since Ebola broke out in Uganda, but today the Saturday Monitor has this report: Force men to support nodding children- women. Excerpt:
Overwhelmed with domestic chores and yet abandoned by their husbands to solely take care of children suffering from the nodding syndrome, women in Kitgum District have appealed to authorities to form a law to force men to support them.
Women in Lamola Parish, Amida Sub-county which is one of the worst hit by the nodding syndrome, said men need to shoulder the responsibility of managing their sick children.
“When we go to do other chores for our living, the men do not look after the children but instead go to trading centres to socialise with their fellows,” Ms Corrina Lamwaka, a mother of three children suffering from the syndrome in Layik West Village, said.
Nodding cases
Most homes in affected areas have at least two or more children infected by the nodding syndrome. Several nodding children have been burnt in fires or drowned as the disease attacks them in absence of adults.
In Pader District, a community development officer, Mr Ray Olweny, said his office has registered more than 20 cases of child neglect by men because of nodding children and cohabiting with other women.
