Remarks at Launch of the National Community Health System Strategy

The Minister of Health, Hon. Dr Jane Ruth Aceng,

The Director General WHO, Dr. Tedros Gnebreyesus (online),

Senior Government Officials,

Your Excellencies, the Ambassadors,

Heads of UN Agencies in Uganda,

Representatives of Civil Society Organisations,

Representatives from Academia, Private Sector and the Media,

Ladies and Gentlemen

On behalf of the United Nations family in Uganda, I am honoured to join you today for the launch of the National Community Health Strategy in Uganda. I welcome you all in your various capacities and particularly I wish to extend a warm welcome to Dr. Tedros. Dr. Tedros, your online participation shows the clear commitment from the UN towards the Community Health agenda in Uganda and globally.

Dear Hon. Minister Aceng, the UN family congratulates the Ministry of Health and the Government of Uganda for achieving this significant milestone, which will guide multiple players towards the delivery of quality, integrated community health services that are affordable, meet quality standards, scientifically appropriate, inclusive and accessible to every household in the quest to attain the national and international goals, in particular, ensuring a Leave No One Behind (LNOB) approach to implementing Sustainable Development Goal 3 of Universal Health Coverage.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

According to the Ministry of Health, over 75% of the disease burden in Uganda is preventable.

The implementation of the National Community Health Strategy will expand access to community-level health promotion and prevention programmes to ensure equity, inclusion and responsiveness to the needs of all citizens, including the marginalized, the most vulnerable and those left furthest behind. This will reduce the workload and economic pressures to the health sector that is often associated with inadequate financing. Strengthening the community health system is a recognized strategic action to the country’s realization of Universal Health Coverage that is an important goal in its path to the middle-income status.

We must recognize that improving community health in both rural and urban communities in Uganda must happen with the participation of the women and men, girls and boys that live in these areas, with particular attention to the most vulnerable and marginalized groups. Historically, improved community health significantly contributed to improvements in Uganda’s health outcomes, in particular attainment of Millennium Development Goal 4, which was concerned with the reduction of child mortality. Community health systems as part of the Primary Health Care (PHC) continuum are the most effective and efficient approaches to achieving the goals for Universal Health Coverage (UHC). In addition, stronger community Health systems are an efficient vehicle for health promotion in an effort to prevent disease, adapt and sustain infection prevention and control measures on a large scale. Uganda has recently witnessed disease outbreaks of COVID-19 and later the Ebola Virus Disease.   

Colleagues, the strategy is launched today, and the roadmap is in place, but the actual implementation of the National Community Health Strategy will require improved governance and accountability. To make this happen all stakeholders – across the Government Ministries, Agencies and Departments - will need to step up to ensure increased advocacy, better communication, reforms in harmful norms and practices that stop communities from adapting and sustaining healthy behaviours, social education and mobilization, and predictable -sustainable financing from government and development partners to ensure communities at high risk of infection and poor health are well served. This is part of the promise that member states have embraced in the UN system wide call to Leave No One Behind.

Secondly it is important that there is a deliberate and urgent effort to ensure that the Community Health workers including Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) and Village Health Teams (VHTs) are well trained, and equipped with supplies, diagnostic tools & job aides, that boost their competence and capabilities to do their work. These cadres are a great community resource that should be well facilitated to accelerate the delivery on the promise in this strategy.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Guests,

The UN family pledges to do all it can to ensure that there is improved and sustainable financing and technical support for community health programmes in Uganda and hence increase availability and access – both geographic and functional - to equitable and integrated Community Health services along the continuum.

Ending HIV/AIDS, stopping COVID-19, and preparing for the next pandemic will require Uganda and the world at large, to tighten our efforts in supporting Primary Health Care and in particular community health for the most vulnerable in our midst. When the next virus hits, the community infrastructure can save many more lives if it is well financed and monitored. To realize this promise, it will take the concerted and deliberate effort of all entities at decision making levels in Government, Civil Society Organizations, cultural and religious institutions and communities.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I therefore wish to thank you all and congratulate you upon launching this critical strategy and it is my sincere hope that this high-level meeting can drive us to accelerate our actions and efforts towards the realization of our commitments, and better health outcomes for men, women and children alike.

By investing in primary healthcare and community health workers we have a much-improved chance of improving the health indicators which we are all meeting to review in the joint annual review meeting at the end of the month.

I thank you.