MoH to involve community in safe motherhood programs

KAMPALA, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health is set to work through family and lower community structures to strengthen safe motherhood programs.

Speaking at the annual Safe Motherhood event, the Minister of Health, Dr Ruth Aceng, noted that safe motherhood is a collective responsibility across various levels of society.

She said that the ministry is focusing on strengthening community engagement to ensure sustainable maternal and newborn health as part of a broader strategy of involving the wider community in health systems for better outcomes. “We need to work collectively with all stakeholders at the community level to address the delay, especially in making appropriate decisions to seek timely healthcare and receive quality services,” she said.

According to Aceng, this approach will be implemented through existing structures, such as village health teams. She added that this strategy would build on the already promising statistics that show a declining maternal mortality ratio, as revealed in the 2024 Uganda Demographic Survey report.

She said that the government is ready to continue working with all stakeholders to enhance access to high-quality maternal, newborn, and child health services through the construction and operation of lower-level health facilities.

The minister noted that while some traditional birth attendants still operate clandestinely, community vigilance is essential to discourage mothers from using their services, which she deemed unnecessary.

Diana Atwine, the Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary, said that much emphasis had been placed on health facility levels, so it is time to focus on the community.   She emphasized that community members should be empowered to develop practical solutions to the unique newborn, maternal, and adolescent reproductive health challenges they face.

The Uganda Demographic Survey report reveals that neo-natal mortality declined to 22 percent, alongside an increase in modern contraceptive use among married women, which rose to 38 percent in 2022 from 35.4 percent in 2016.

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