New Resource Spotlight: “That’s Improvement!”: Uganda Focuses on Health Workers

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. CapacityPlus and the Uganda Capacity Program, both led by IntraHealth International, are supporting the Ugandan government’s efforts to strengthen its health workforce and increase access to quality care. In this short video by CapacityPlus’s Carol Bales and Sarah Dwyer, Ugandan health workers, managers, and leaders show how the country’s efforts are paying off—and how service delivery has improved.

Other countries can strengthen their health workforce by adapting the tools and approaches that Uganda has successfully used. A special website section hosts the video and contains links to numerous resources and tools as well as the following related stories:

Improving Health Workforce Leadership and Management in Uganda
Dr. John Baptist Waniaye was working as a medical officer when he realized he wanted to take on a new role. “I opted to go into management for health [because] I realized that there are gaps which when you’re a leader and a manager you can easily fix and make the environment very good for the health workers.” [Read More]

Strengthening Health Workforce Data for Improved Health Service Delivery
“My office is like a web. All information about human resources is needed in my office,” explains Ojulun Joreme. He’s the principal personnel officer for Dokolo District in Uganda. [Read More]

Using Data to Successfully Advocate for Health Workforce Funding
In Mbale District, one exhausted midwife—widely loved by her community and usually fantastic at her job—found herself snapping at her clients and being rude. For days, she’d been working without rest at a clinic that offers 24-hour maternity care. [Read More]

Health Workers: Key to Family Planning and Reproductive Health
“To talk about sexual and reproductive health, and not to talk about human resources for health—then the equation is not complete,” says Patrick Mugirwa, a program officer with Partners in Population and Development (PPD) Africa Regional Office. [Read More]

Two Projects Working Together to Strengthen the Health Workforce in Uganda
How can a global project and a country-specific project work together to strengthen the health workforce and increase access to quality care? What about in Uganda, where there are only 14 doctors, nurses, and midwives for every 10,000 people? [Read More]

Addressing Gender Inequality in Uganda’s Health Workforce
HR management policies and practices that promote nonviolence, nondiscrimination, equal opportunity, and gender equality at work result in positive professional work environments and more efficient recruitment, deployment, and retention of human resources for health. [Read More]

You can see related photos on our Flickr set.

Help CapacityPlus spread the word about strengthening the health workforce. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

Related items: