Uganda has benefited from two decades of strong economic growth and has reduced poverty by half. Despite this progress and declining poverty rates, the absolute number of poor has decreased very little considering its population growth, and challenges remain with weak infrastructure and a lack of skilled workforce. The country aims to strengthen health and community systems to deliver a more responsive and accountable response to HIV, TB and malaria. Uganda was one of the first African countries to significantly reduce HIV prevalence rates. The AIDS epidemic is still serious as the number of people needing care is high; Uganda works to prevent new HIV infections and provide treatment and support, including to orphans and vulnerable children. Malaria is endemic year-round. The country is accelerating measures to achieve universal coverage of prevention and treatment, with a focus on distribution of bed nets, and diagnosis and treatment. Uganda is ranked among the 22 high-TB burden countries. Programs focus on increasing TB prevention, control, treatment, care and support.

AHO PRIORITIES FOR HEALTH DELIVERY PLAN IN UGANDA

1. Consolidate the Health System (UHS), strengthening managerial capacity in the three spheres of government and facilitating consensus-building on objectives and results through pacts between UHS managers (bipartite and tripartite), integrated planning and programming activities, and use of the integrated nature of the three levels of care to improve the equity, quality, and efficiency of services, and operationalize prevailing UHS standards.
2. Promote the functional integration of databases and information systems that support health decisions and policies, particularly those for epidemiological and managerial surveillance activities and programs, establishing remote electronic access services, the Virtual Health Library (VHL) and the Integrated Health Information Network.
3. Develop and implement environmental health and sanitation policies to reduce the disease and mortality burden and improve the health and well-being of the population.
4. Strengthen actions and programs to prevent, monitor, and control communicable diseases, particularly vaccine-preventable diseases; STD/HIV; tuberculosis; leprosy; vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, disease, yellow fever, and zoonoses, especially, rabies; and food-borne diseases. Strengthen programs geared to reducing risk factors associated with noncommunicable diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases, cancer,
5. diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.
6. Promote human resource education and training programs based on the Family Health Strategy, and refine regulatory and management, based on the availability of information and the analytical capacity of human resources in health.
7. Make health promotion a national priority, which implies developing public policies that improve factors that constitute health determinants, strengthening inter-sectoral work and mobilizing sectoral and inter-sectoral resources for programs and activities at all levels of the State.
8. Strengthen the institutional capacity of AHO for Health Surveillance. Ensure a decentralized supply of basic and generic drugs, as well as safe blood and food hygiene. Promote the evaluation of applied technologies in health for rational use by level of care.
9. Strengthen the decentralization of health services by improving the managerial capacity of state health secretariats to technically and financially support the municipalities in the regionalization process, in keeping with operating standards for health care, in order to improve the quality of health services and make access to them more equitable. Develop and implement environmental health and sanitation policies to reduce the disease and mortality burden and improve the health and well-being of the population.
10. Promote inter-sectoral actions that improve health and the quality of life, with emphasis on basic sanitation and environmental protection, strengthening the institutional capacity of AHO environmental health. Undertake actions and programs to protect health workers and prepare for natural and technological disasters.
11. Promote education and training programs for human resources based on the Family Health Strategy, and refine regulatory and management processes based on the availability of information and the analytical capacity of human resources in health.

RESOURCES (USD)

AHO UGANDA 2020 (USD million)* based on 2017 population of 42.86 million, World Bank

AHO estimates that it needs to spend at least USD100 per capita on health to meet the basic health needs of the people in Africa. This is too far below developed countries e.g. in England it is US$1,300 per capita (2017)