The Health Policy Project ended in 2016. Work continued under Health Policy Plus (HP+) until 2022.

Uganda

Overview

Over the past 20 years, Uganda has made significant progress in improving the health of its citizens. Yet, challenges remain in ensuring that women, children, families, and communities have access to high-quality health services, whether it is safe delivery for pregnant mothers and their newborns or reproductive health counseling and contraceptives for individuals and couples. In order to address these barriers, it is essential that leaders from government and health institutions have the data and information to shape decisions in policy and programming, and maximize the resources required to provide high-quality healthcare for all Ugandans.

What We Do

In Uganda, the Health Policy Project (HPP) collaborates with the Saving Mothers, Giving Life partnership and provides technical assistance in documenting investments made to strengthen maternal and child health (MCH) programs in the four pilot districts. From careful analysis of this data, HPP and local partners are able to better understand the resources required to scale up MCH programs throughout the country and inform budgeting and planning processes at both district and national levels. As a result, Uganda will be able to use this model for future evaluations and better maximize the impact of efforts that save the lives of thousands of women and children each year.

Ugandan parliamentarians launching new policy brief on family planning.

We also engage parliamentarians and other government leaders in Uganda to strengthen their capacity to advocate for increased commitment to family planning and reproductive health programs. HPP helps facilitate high-level policy dialogue to inform decisionmakers on key family planning issues, empowering them to champion the cause of prioritizing reproductive health. In turn, they are better able to influence other leaders and make the case for increased budgetary resources to meet national and regional commitments to improving family planning and reproductive health.

Publications and Resources

Investments to Accelerate Reductions in Maternal Mortality: Findings from Expenditure Studies in Uganda and Zambia for the Saving Mothers, Giving Life Partnership
Saving Mothers, Giving Life (SMGL) is five-year public-private partnership aiming to drastically reduce maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. As part of the proof of concept, the USAID- and PEPFAR-funded Health Policy Project conducted an expenditure analysis to identify what additional expenditures were made to reduce maternal mortality in the eight SMGL pilot districts in Uganda and Zambia

Reproductive Health Financing for Uganda: Commitment to Action
This policy brief is intended to guide Ugandan parliamentarians in addressing critical issues related to family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) financing to ensure that increased budget commitments for RH commodities already realized are sustained over the coming years and that funds are disbursed and fully expended

Reproductive Health Financing for Uganda: Advocacy with Concrete Outcomes
This policy brief highlights (1) the advocacy process used to generate increased funding commitments for family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) commodities in Uganda, (2) the steps needed to ensure that the allocated funds fully translate into procurement of FP commodities, and (3) how advocates can sustain the momentum over the coming years.

News

Government of Uganda launches the Uganda Family Planning Costed Implementation Plan, 2015–2020
Uganda’s Ministry of Health launched the Uganda Family Planning Costed Implementation Plan, 2015–2020 (FP-CIP) on November 27, 2014. Full implementation of the FP-CIP will reduce Uganda’s unmet need for family planning to 10 percent and increase the modern contraceptive prevalence rate among married women to 50 percent by 2020. Full implementation is also projected to increase the number of women in Uganda currently using modern contraception from approximately 1.7 million users in 2014 to 3.7 million in 2020.

Health Policy Project Partner Receives 2013 United Nations Population Award
Dr. Jotham Musinguzi, Regional Director of Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office, received the 2013 United Nations Population Award for outstanding work in population and in improving public health.

Partners

HPP collaborates with in-country and international partners in Uganda, including: