The Ministry of Health recognizes that access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in health facilities is critical in the reduction of diseases, improved occupational health, more efficient health care services, improved staff morale and performance. The micro planning data generated will guide line ministries, local government authorities and development partners to position WASH in the health care facilities agenda within the Water and Health sectors. Additionally, it will support the development of a roadmap for achieving WASH-related sustainable development goals for health institutions.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 3 and SDG 6 reinforce the need to ensure adequate WASH services, which will result in a reduction in maternal mortality, ending preventable newborn deaths, and providing quality universal health coverage. The rationale of the WASH guidelines is to document procedures and provide a framework for strategic planning, implementation of functional and effective WASH services in healthcare facilities in Uganda. These guidelines offer a basis for creating the minimum conditions required for providing healthcare services in a healthy environment for healthcare workers, patients and visitors to the healthcare premises. They also serve as a tool for monitoring the performance of WASH in health care facilities.
Village Health Teams (VHTs) were established by the Ministry of Health to empower communities to take part in the decisions that affect their health; mobilize communities for health programs, and strengthen the delivery of health services at house-hold level.
The Ministry of Health is implementing the Village Health Team (VHT) strategy to ensure that every village in Uganda has capacity to mobilize individuals and households for better health. VHT members are community volunteers who are selected by communities to provide correct health information, mobilize communities and provide linkage to health services. As part of the process of scaling up the implementation of this strategy in Uganda, the Ministry and partners decided to develop Trainers of Trainee (ToT) guide to act as a training resource for VHT trainers of trainees
In each home, parents and guardians are very important because it is the family that puts into practice the daily care actions that are needed to be healthy and stay healthy. These actions include: Wash hands with soap before eating and after using the latrine
The guide offers a training methodology that will facilitate your work in preparing VHT members for the work they will do. This methodology will help them develop the skills required for their very important mission. The training should be carefully planned, and well organized. Handling adult learners requires knowledge, care and experience to give the VHT the skills needed to carry out their tasks.
OTC provides home-based treatment and rehabilitation for clients who are severely, acutely malnourished but have appetite and are free of medical complications. This session will describe issues including criteria for entry and exit, activities in the OTC, link with other Care and planning and setting up OTC.
Uganda adopted the Village Health Teams (VHTs) strategy in 2001 as a bridge in health service delivery between community and health facilities. This assessment sought to establish the VHT programme functionality in Uganda.
Globally, breastfeeding has the potential to prevent about 800 000 deaths among children under five each year if all children 0–23 months were optimally breastfed. Early initiation of breastfeeding could prevent about one fifth of neonatal deaths, but less than half of infants are put to the breast within one hour of birth. WHO recommends that all infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life, but actual practice is low (38%). Only about half of children aged 20–23 months are breastfed despite the recommendation that breastfeeding continue for up to 2 years or beyond.
Breastfeeding is an extension of maternal protection that transitions the young infant from the shelter of the in utero environment to life in the ex utero world with its variety of potentially harmful exposures. The promotion, protection, and support of breastfeeding is an exceptionally cost-effective strategy for improving child survival and reducing the burden of childhood disease, particularly in developing countries
Despite major strides to improve the health of the population in the last 10 – 15 years, the health status of Ugandans remains relatively poor with high morbidity and mortality from preventable causes. The National Population and Housing Census 2014 show a life expectancy of 63.3 years and under five mortality of 80/1000. The major health problems of the country largely arise from preventable communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases and nutritional disorders. The majority (about 75%) of Ugandans live in rural areas, many of which are remote and lack health services. Government therefore recognized the need to develop a health care delivery system designed to improve the health status of households, with their full participation, using local technologies and resources.
