12-year-old Sulait Nturagye was admitted last week at Ntare Health Center IV in Kamwenge district after he was allegedly being physically abused and starved by his aunt. According to Leticia Lukuse the Clinical Officer at Ntare Health Center, Sulait was diagnosed with acute malnutrition and dehydration for which he has now been receiving treatment. The health worker also revealed that by the time Sulait was admitted he was too frail to feed himself and he weighed just 5 kilograms. “So we started feeding him with a syringe, now Sulait is able to feed using a cup, he is even able to sit unsupported, he can even move off the bed and move for about 5 minutes. So we have transitioned to F-100 also a therapeutic milk of which he is also feeding well and he has greatly improved his weight.” Said, Leticia Lukuse – Clinical Officer, Ntare Health Center IV.
Lukuse also revealed that Sulait’s case was very complicated considering that he was tortured and mistreated something that might continue to affect him psychologically. “It is not only malnutrition that is a problem, Sulait was also facing torture at the home of which the mother was tying him on a banana plantation as detention as she was doing other work.” Rosemary Matsiko Sulait’s Caretaker said that his situation had somewhat improved thanks to the support according to them by members of civil society.
Godfrey Kiirya a Workers’ Representative from Baylor Uganda said Kamwenge was one of the districts in Uganda where they had registered a number of cases arising from child neglect and so far Sulait’s case was the sixth. “Kamwenge is one of the districts where we have registered a number of cases of child neglect as you’ve seen in the case of Sulait who was brought here 5 days ago.” Said, Godfrey Kiirya – Representative, Baylor Uganda. “Since September 2017, we have so far handled this is the sixth case. So these case range from sexual abuse, neglect, harassment, and arrest.” For now, health workers are continuing to monitor Sulait’s condition to check whether the improvement is permanent.
