Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Uganda

Health Action in Crises (HAC) Programme in Uganda - Annual Report 2006

Attachments

Executive Summary

As a result of broad consultations within and outside WHO, a Three Year Performance Improvement Program (TYP) aimed at strengthening WHO's capacity to support member States and others to prepare for and respond to emergency was commissioned in 2004. Within the framework of the TYP, CCS and the Ugandan HSSP II WHO has been providing support to the MOH, DHT) and other local and international partners to mitigate the health impact of the conflict in northern Uganda for at least 3 years.

Summary achievements of WHO/HAC in Uganda in the year 2006 include expansion of operations into 8 additional conflict affected districts of northern Uganda, implementation of health services availability mapping surveys in Gulu, Kitgum and Pader districts which provided vital baseline information for identifying keys health priorities in the districts and local mobilisation of over five million USD from various donors such as DFID, Sida, Norwegian and Finnish governments to address critical gaps in health, nutrition and HIV/AIDS response in northern Uganda. Other key achievements include timely, effective and successful response to meningitis, cholera and measles outbreaks all over the country, successful roll out of the new malaria treatment policy in all districts of northern Uganda, strengthening of IDSR, increasing the number of ART sites from 5 in 2004 to 35 in 2006 and construction of two maternity units in underserved areas of Oyam and Lira districts.

Despite many constraints, WHO/HAC Uganda made tremendous progress in establishing its presence and visibility in northern Uganda in 2006. The programme is now present and providing technical, financial and logistic support in the delivery of health care services in all districts of northern Uganda. The proximity to the DHTs in these districts has also enhanced the coordination role of the organization. These achievements will contribute to reduction of morbidity and mortality in northern Uganda in the coming months and years. Looking back, the excellent leadership and support from the WHO Regional Director and WHO Representative, collaboration and support from programme officers and the administrative unit in the WCO, presence of very committed, dedicated and hard working teams in the field and excellent support from the donors (DFID, Sida, Norway, Finland, ECHO) were some of the strengths that contributed to the successful work of WHO HAC Uganda in 2006. However, insecurity, lack of human resources for health especially at the health facility level, low fund absorption capacity by the district and ineffective co-ordination of health response in the district were some of the key challenges faced by the programme.

To consolidate the achievements made so far by WHO/HAC Uganda and ensure that these achievements translate into substantial reduction in morbidity and mortality,in northern Uganda, the strategic focus of the programme in the year 2007 is to proactively improve health coordination through the cluster approach, build effective partnerships especially with NGOs, strengthen the MOH and district capacity for emergency preparedness and response and health service delivery at the health facility and community levels in the IDP camps and return areas and strengthen HMIS/IDSR to ensure timely and good quality disease and health data for programme monitoring, evaluation, planning and priority setting.