Background The global consumption of herbal medicine is increasing steadily, posing an extinction risk to medicinal plants. Uganda is among the top ten countries with a high threat of herbal medicine extinction, and Traditional Medicinal Knowledge (TMK) erosion. This might be attributed to the inadequate documentation, plus many more unclear hindrances. In this study, plant species used to treat human diseases in Butaleja district in Eastern Uganda and their associated TMK were documented. The conservation methods for medicinal plants were also evaluated. The rationale was to support the preservation of ethnopharmacological knowledge. Methods Data were collected from 80 herbalists using semi-structured questionnaires, from July 2020 to March 2021. Additionally, guided field walks and observations were conducted. Quantitative indices such as, use categories and informant consensus factor (ICF) were evaluated to elucidate the importance of the medicinal plants. Data were analyzed using STATA version-15.0 software. Results In total, 133 species, belonging to 34 families and 125 genera were identified. Fabaceae (65%), and Solanaceae (29%) were the dominant families. Leaves (80%), and roots (15%), were the commonest parts used in medicinal preparations; mostly administered orally as decoctions (34.6%) and infusions (16%). The commonest illnesses treated were cough (7.74%), gastric ulcers (7.42%), and malaria (4.52%). The informant consensus factor was high for all disease categories (≥ 0.8), indicating homogeneity of knowledge about remedies used. Only 73% of the respondents made efforts to conserve medicinal plants. The commonest conservation strategy was preservation of forests with spiritually valued species (100%), while compliance with government regulations was the rarest (4.5%). Overall, efforts to stop the extinction of medicinal plants and TMK were inadequate. Conclusion and recommendations There was enormous dependency on a rich diversity of medicinal plant species and TMK for healthcare and income generation. The potential for medicinal plant biodiversity loss was evident due to habitat destruction. Inclusion of traditional cultural norms in conservation strategies, and laboratory-based efficacy tests for the species identified are necessary, to promote the conservative and utilization of validated herbal medicines and TMK in rural settings.

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Introduction: Corona virus disease (COVID-19) is one of the topmost global hindrances to human existence. Rural settings have been reported to be more vulnerable in some parts of the world. In Uganda, community leaders in rural villages are among the immediate personnel mandated to support compliance with preventive guidelines, and to identify and report/deliver COVID-19 cases to health units. We examined the potential risks of COVID-19 transmission, knowledge levels, perceptions and opinions of Village Council Leaders (VCLs) in selected districts in Eastern Uganda, to support the design of risk-based COVID-19 control measures in rural settings, to protect lives better. Methodology: A convenience sample of ten VLCs were purposively selected in three districts in Eastern Uganda. Pretested questionnaires and in-depth interviews were used to assess the knowledge levels, perceptions, and opinions of respondents about COVID-19. An observational survey was also conducted to examine the barriers to effective control of COVID-19, with reference to health guidelines set by the Ugandan government and the World Health Organization. Data was analyzed using HyperRESEARCH 2.8 software, and STATA version-15.0. Results: Eighty percent of VCLs reported that they were formally engaged in the fight against COVID-19, and the common means of engagement were; dissemination of COVID-19 information by word of mouth, regulation of public events, and monitoring of visitors that come from distant places. All clients reported having received some information about this pandemic, but there was generally low knowledge on some vital aspects: 70% of the respondents did not know the meaning of COVID-19; 100% were uninformed on these common symptoms; headache, sore throat, nausea, and loss of taste & smell; 10% did not know if willingness to conform to health guidelines may affect COVID-19 prevention, and they believed that domestic animals are viable vectors. Radio was the commonest source of COVID-19 information, but it was confounded by poor quality of radio-signals. Most respondents were of the view that in the communities they lead; inaccessibility to authentic health information, financial constraints, and belief that COVID-19 is a fallacy, were some of the leading obstacles to the fight against the pandemic. Low awareness and misconceptions on COVID-19 could be explained by; technological challenges, low literacy levels, and dissemination of wrong information about this pandemic. From the observational survey, the major factors which might intensify the risk of COVID-19 spread were: scarcity of requirements for hand hygiene, face protection, violation of health guidelines and directives, porous borders, terrain, and use of potentially polluted open water sources. Conclusion: Communities in Eastern Uganda are vulnerable to the drastic spread of COVID-19 due to challenges related to: low awareness, poor compliance with preventive guidelines, finances, technology, terrain, illiteracy, scarcity of protective wear and hygiene resources. Awareness creation, material aid, execution of preventive rules, and more research on COVID-19 are warranted.

Introduction: Coronavirus disease is one of leading causes of deaths in recent times that has surpassed cardiovascular and other respiratory diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) setup Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that have been adopted by the different governments to curtail its spread. Nonetheless, information on the adherence to the SOPs amongst market vendors is not well elucidated. Moreover, markets are centers of convergence of many people which increases the risks of community transmission. Therefore, our study, investigated the extent of the adherence to the SOPs amongst market vendors in Sironko district. Methodology:  A quantitative study with cross-sectional design was adopted with a sample size of 221 randomly selected participants. Pretested structured questionnaires were used in the data collection. Categorical data was presented in tables and graphs with frequency (%). Pearson’s Chi-square (X2) was used to examine the statistical significance of our results.  The analysis was done by using the statistical software MedCalc version 20.0008. All the analyses were done at 95% level of significance and a p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 221 participants were involved: 126, 57 % female, 80, 36% aged between 31-40 years and 158, 72% married.  Fever, dry cough, chest pain, arches & pain loss of speech & movements were the most reported signs and symptoms of COVID-19 (p<0.0001). Most of the respondents were aware of the SOPs, hand washing soap and adequate water were readily available (p<0.0001). The commonly implemented SOP was wearing face masks (p<0.0001). The radio talk shows & broadcasting were the main sources of information(p<0.0001). The inadequate facemasks and limited finances constrained the Implementation of SOPs (p<0.0001).  Conclusion:  Most market vendors were aware of the COVID-19 SOPs and claimed they adhered. However, there is need to carry out a qualitative study to confirm the above claims.