Transforming Maternal and Child Health in Uganda: IDA's Impactful Initiatives
In Uganda, the well-being of mothers and children is a pressing concern, as access to quality healthcare remains limited in many...
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HOW WE WORK
At IDA Global Alliance, we work at the intersection of communities, families, government, and health to save and improve lives, reduce disease, and provide easy access to high-quality, low-cost health care.
Our Approach
Get to the bottom of the issue and solve it. Fill in the gaps for better and more efficient health-care delivery. Support and sustain Ugandan health initiatives, particularly in rural areas.
We use an implementation-focused approach to shape healthcare systems within communities in order to reduce the costs of lifesaving medications, diagnostics, and other health products and equipment in Uganda, particularly in underserved areas.
We collaborate with governments and stakeholders to help with health-care system reform, focusing on areas where current approaches are failing, moving too slowly, or on a scale that results in too many people dying or suffering needlessly.
We strive to make healthcare delivery more efficient with each new program, project, and activity, and we collaborate with governments to ensure that change can be sustained without our assistance.
The results are transformative, and we believe that with the right resources, our programs will reduce disease burden in Uganda and enable millions of people to gain access to lifesaving medicine and treatments for diseases that have afflicted them over the years.
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"Uganda has the highest incidence rate of malaria in the world, with 478 people out of 1000 population being afflicted per year."
Wetaya, Richard (16 July 2017). "Malaria leading cause of death in Uganda". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
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Life expectancy at birth m/f (years): 54/57
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Probability of dying under five (per 1 000 live births): 90
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Probability of dying between 15 and 60 years m/f (per 1 000 population): 410/363
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Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2011): 128
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Total expenditure on health as % of GDP (2011): 9.5
The Problem
Uganda's burden of disease is dominated by communicable diseases, which account for over 50% of morbidity and mortality. Malaria, HIV/AIDS, TB, and respiratory, diarrheal, epidemic-prone and vaccine-preventable diseases are the leading causes of illness and death.
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including mental health disorders, are also on the rise. Maternal and perinatal conditions also play a role in the high mortality rate. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) continue to be a major issue in the country, primarily affecting rural poor communities.
Furthermore, disparities in health status exist across the country, which are closely linked to underlying socioeconomic, gender, and geographic disparities.
The major challenges affecting the health system in Uganda are:
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Lack of resources to recruit, deploy, motivate, and retain health human resources, particularly in remote areas;
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Lack of well trained health professionals especially in rural areas;
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Poor delivery of quality health care services ;
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Poor reliability of health information in terms of data quality, timeliness, and completeness;
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Reducing stock-outs of essential/tracer medicines and medical supplies.
Among other competing priorities, the government provides financial assistance to the health sector. The government's total allocation to the health sector fell from 9.6% of the national budget in 2009/2010 to 8.7% in 2014/15. The general government's health spending of $9 per person fell short of the Health Sector Strategic and Investment Plan target of $17 and the WHO recommendation of $34.
Over the years, the Government of Uganda's share of health expenditure has remained stable at around 15%. This means that the country is still heavily reliant on foreign aid, which accounts for approximately 45% of total health expenditure and raises concerns about sustainability. Out-of-pocket payments are 37%, which is far above the recommended maximum of 20% for catastrophic expenditure, indicating that financial risk protection is inadequate and equity concerns exist.
Access to affordable and appropriate quality health care is a universal right, but for many people in the world it remains a distant dream. The Rural areas of Uganda for example struggles to improve healthcare services.
This is where the IDA Global Alliance comes in. We will direct our efforts toward developing programs, projects, and activities that will help promote health initiatives in Uganda with the help of sufficient resources and the effective implementation of the SGDs.
The Solution
The health of the Ugandan people is critical to the country's socioeconomic transformation. Along with rising literacy rates and robust economic growth, health outcomes are improving, resulting in improved health indicators.
Our strategy is to develop and support health initiatives in Uganda; as we work to improve and create efficient healthcare delivery while working with government to ensure that changes that occur through all health project implementation can be sustained without our assistance.
Among our initiatives are:
How we work (solution)
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Community Medical Camps and Outreaches
With the sacred goal of raising awareness among Ugandans who lack access to basic healthcare services or knowledge about disease treatment and prevention, IDA Global conducts and supports medical camps to ensure people receive healthcare at the right time and see a doctor before a minor health problem becomes a major one.
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Training and Sensitization of Health professionals at local and national level
Through medical camps, health outreaches and in collaboration with Ministry of Health Uganda and local government we at IDA Global, want to ensure the production of quality health professionals. In these programs, we shall be training medical interns and most importantly Community Health Workers also known as Village Health Teams (VHTs)
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Collaboration
We cannot have an impact unless we collaborate with key stakeholders in a mutually respectful environment.
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Providing access to high-quality health care through the use of cutting-edge medical technology
Medical equipment plays an important role in the Ugandan Health Care system. In the health facilities, medical equipment will range from injection needles, centrifuges, stethoscopes, blood pressure machines, to X-Ray Machines, MRI etc. designed to help medical personnel carry out diagnosis and treatment of patients.
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Advocacy and Implementation
IDA Global advocates at the national and district levels for consumer-friendly health and health-related laws and policies through coalition building, partnership formation, and sensitization, as well as research to inform advocacy.
There is no static healthcare system that is ideal. Since people, diseases, and technology all undergo change, healthcare must also change for the better.
-IDA Global Alliance
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