Youth petition Kadaga over poor state of health workers

Oct 24, 2013

IN the petitions, they cite the urgent need for motivation among midwives, anesthetists, anesthetic assistants and theatre assistants who play a critical role in saving lives

By Cecilia Okoth

HUNDREDS of youth on Thursday handed the Speaker of Parliament a set of petitions asking for the government to focus on the retention of health workers in the 2014/2015 national budget.

In the petitions, the youth cite the urgent need for motivation among midwives, anesthetists, anesthetic assistants and theatre assistants who play a critical role in saving the lives of women with obstetric complications during pregnancy and child birth.

“Increase funding for training more vital health workers in the budget for 2014/2015. Enhance their wages and provide them accommodation at their work posts and recognition for exemplary performance, especially in hard to reach and congested areas,” the petition read.

The youth also want Gov’t to invest an additional Sh41.5B Primary Health Care (PHC) non-wage fund against current allocations. The PHC they say is critical in meeting utility bills for water, electricity, fuel for ambulances and transport for support services that enable health centres to effectively and efficiently function hence enabling the role of health workers in saving lives.

They also want Gov’t to honor its commitment to increasing Basic and Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BCEmNOC) service from 70-100 percent at hospitals, from 17-50 percent at Health Centre IVs and basic in all Health centres.

“Waive the policy of non-recruitment of enrolled comprehensive nurses. Recruit more enrolled comprehensive nurses as midwives and scale up remedial training to improve their midwifery skills, to saving lives of mothers and their newborns,” the petition read. 

The youth, represented from all regions of the country, signed the petitions at the Youth Advocacy summit to commemorate the international Global Day of Action at the Imperial Royale Hotel.

Representing the Rt. Hon Speaker Rebecca Kadaga, Kenneth Omona, the chairman of the Health committee in Parliament pledged to advocate for the motion in parliament. Omona is also the MP Kaberamaido District. 

The summit was in collaboration with Save the Children in Uganda through its flagship “Everyone Campaign” and the Civil Society Organisation coalition on maternal, newborn and child health.  

The proportion of deaths among mothers and children remains high at 438 deaths per 100,000 live births and 90 under five deaths per 1,000 live births respectively according to the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey, 2011. In addition, for every woman who dies, six survive with chronic and debilitating ill health.

This also translates to 17 mothers dying every day while giving life. It also means 282 children dying before the age of five years. Of these, 106 (40%) are newborns, dying within the first month of life. Even more alarming, 15 percent of these child mortalities occur in the first 24 hours of life, making the birthday the riskiest day for both the mother and the child.

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