Healthcare in Uganda
Formal providers include medical and dental practitioners, nurses and midwives, pharmacies, and allied health professionals.
HC IV is also intended to provide blood transfusion services and comprehensive emergency obstetric care.
The MOH coordinates stakeholders and is responsible for planning, budgeting, policy formulation, and regulation.
The DHMT oversees implementation of health services in the district, ensuring coherence with national policies.
[5] In addition, the Uganda Medical Association (UMA) seeks to "provide programs that support the social welfare and professional interests of medical doctors in Uganda and to promote universal access to quality health and health care.
"[6] However, the government's failure to improve the compensation of doctors , as well as failing to conduct a review of the supply of medicines and other equipment in health centres across the country, led to a UMA strike in November 2017, effectively paralysing Uganda's health system.
[8] Another demand side reform introduced in the same year was the abolition of user fees at public health facilities, which triggered a surge in outpatient attendances across the country.
With decentralization of health services, a "pull" system was instituted in which district and health facility managers were granted autonomy to procure medicines they needed in the required quantities from the national medical stores, within pre-set financial earmarks.
[11] The 2011 USAID report assessing Uganda's health care system pointed to the fact that the UNMHCP often sets health sector targets and activities without an adequate analysis of the costs involved or the implementation of measures to allocate required resources appropriately.
[13] In 2009, a survey conducted of Ugandan patients indicated a decline in the performance of the public sector health services.
[13] The quality of services affects utilization in different ways, including preventing patients from seeking out delivery services or leading them to see traditional providers, self-medicate, and decide not to seek formal care or seeing private providers.
[citation needed] The doubling in public and not-for-profit facilities was primarily driven by the government’s initiative to improve access to services.
[citation needed] However, 68 percent of these services are located in the capital Kampala and the surrounding central region, while rural areas face a gross shortage of such facilities.
Thirty-five percent of government health centers visited by persons who fell sick were within a radius of 5 kilometres (3 mi) from the population.
[21] Antenatal care (ANC) coverage in Uganda in 2011 was almost universal with more than 95 percent of women attending at least one visit.
In 2011, only two percent of mothers received a PNC check up in the first hour for all births in two years before the 2011 Uganda Demographic Household Survey.
[20] Table: Uganda Trends in Selected SRH indicators[20] Sexual health in Uganda is affected by the prevalence of HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STI), poor health-seeking behaviours regarding STIs, violence, and female genital mutilation that affect female sexuality in isolated communities in the north-eastern part of the country.
[23] Uganda is one of the three countries where randomized controlled trials were conducted to determine whether voluntary male circumcision reduces transmission of HIV from women to men.
[citation needed] In Uganda, the number of midwives per 1000 live births is 7, and 1 in 35 is the lifetime risk of death for pregnant women.
