Stoves can be makeshift incubators, Uganda says

KAMPALA, Aug 8 (Reuters) Women who give birth to premature babies in poor rural Uganda should use charcoal stoves to keep them warm if no incubator is available, the government has said.

Premature births are common in villages in the east African country, where many mothers suffer from malnutrition and malaria. Costly incubators are scarce, but most homes have a stove, known locally as a sigiri.

''Charcoal stoves can provide temperatures like those of a mother's womb. So where you don't have incubators, mothers can use sigiri,'' the Director-General of Health Services, Dr Sam Zaramba, was quoted by local press as telling parliament. He did not give further details.

The independent Daily Monitor said his comments last week brought a mixed reaction from members of parliament, with some fearing mothers could accidentally harm their children.

''This is a crude and desperate method,'' one legislator was quoted saying. ''The babies will end up getting burnt.'' Reuters SRS VP0420