Uganda

CapacityPlus Technical Brief #15 (PDF)

A strong and well-distributed health workforce is necessary for providing access to high-quality health care and achieving national and global health goals. Developing and implementing policies to effectively address health workforce challenges demands relevant data for evidence-based decision-making. This technical brief offers six recommendations to help national stakeholders transform evidence into policy decisions and subsequent action. Using an example from Uganda, the authors illustrate how the development and sharing of evidence can support decision-making for change in health workforce recruitment and retention policies, toward the aim of improving access to high-quality health care for the population.

In this short video, meet three Ugandan health workers who love their jobs. Agnes, Habiba, and Alex find joy in serving their clients, but they face many challenges—and there are simply not enough health workers to meet the demand. To improve health services, Uganda is focusing on the people that provide quality care. These efforts are paying off and service delivery has improved. Other countries can access the tools and approaches that Uganda has successfully used. The related website section includes stories, photos, and links to resources.

CapacityPlus Voices #12

The Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council requires doctors and dentists to register and obtain an annual practicing license. Unfortunately “quacks” pose as medical practitioners, offering services without the appropriate training. Dr. Ssentongo Katumba, registrar of the council, explains how a new mobile directory based on mobile technology and the iHRIS software is helping the council identify quacks, as well as helping Ugandans seek services from qualified health workers.

Successes and Challenges Poster

Human resources for health (HRH) is a relatively young field. As such, less is known about how to successfully implement health workforce interventions than is known about other types of health interventions (e.g., service delivery) with a longer history of implementation. Presented at the Second Global Symposium on Health Systems Research in Beijing on November 2, 2012, this poster describes results from a qualitative study with staff from USAID-funded HRH projects in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania led by IntraHealth International, which was conducted in recognition of the need for a more systematic approach to understanding the challenges and success factors in implementing HRH interventions.