Health

Hima set up this project to improve health and socio-economic status of Hima staff and the surrounding community. The purpose is to reduce illness, deaths, and socio-economic losses associated with malaria amongst Hima Cement Ltd staff, families and surrounding community through the use of Insecticide Treated Mosquito Bed Nets (ITNs).

Use of ITNs can reduce childhood mortality by as much as 63% and childhood malaria morbidity by up to 50%. Hima developed a partnership with the surrounding Organised Community Groups (OCGs) where we buy the mosquito nets for donation to needy institutions in the society (Community.

Over 6400 mosquito nets have been distributed to all households in Hima. In May 2011, Hima donated  500 insecticide treated mosquito nets to the 9 health centers which offer in-patient services in the Busongora North constituency. 

Hima Cement Ltd was one of the first organisations to recognise the impact of HIV/AIDS to the workforce and community as a whole, and has had a Workplace HIV/AIDS awareness program in place since 1998. The Community Anti Retroviral Treatment Programme was launched in 2006 in partnership with Health Initiatives in the Private Sector (HIPS) This awareness program has involved the families of employees, the adjacent nursery and primary schools, other sister companies and the surrounding community.

Over the years the awareness has been in the form of:

• Peer Education activities;
• Annual medical check ups
• Condom use demonstration and condom distribution network(s);
• Group discussions and lectures;
• Pamphlets, brochures, posters, stickers (Car & Helmet) and T-shirts with messages.
• Free Sexually Transmitted Infections management at the Staff Clinic.
• Free counselling services at the Staff Clinic
• Free Care and ART Treatment for people Living with HIV/AIDS within a radius of 10 km from Kasese plant