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Fighting Uganda's Nodding Syndrome

Collines Angwech grew up in Northern Uganda, where a mysterious illness, called nodding syndrome, started affecting children. She devoted herself to helping them.

Collines Angwech grew up in Northern Uganda, an area that bore the brunt of armed attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army. Collines spent a lot of her childhood on the run from them. Then ten years ago, a mysterious illness started affecting children. It's been given the name nodding syndrome because one of the signs that there's something wrong is that the child starts dropping his or her head as if they're falling asleep. The body and brain stop growing, and the child suffers fits. Researchers are looking into the possibility that it is caused by the same parasite - a worm - that triggers river blindness. Most of the affected children aren't getting the care they need, but Collines has devoted herself to looking after them, at a centre set up by a charity.

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(Picutre courtesy of Collines Angwech.)

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50 minutes

Last on

Wed 24 May 2017 05:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Wed 24 May 2017 03:06GMT
  • Wed 24 May 2017 04:06GMT
  • Wed 24 May 2017 05:06GMT

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