Govt to strengthen partnerships to close family planning funding gap
Uganda’s modern contraceptive prevalence rate among married women stands at 42.4%, against a national target of 47.8%, while the total fertility rate is about 5.2 children per woman.
Dr John Paul Bagala, Assistant Commissioner for Reproductive and Infant Health at the Ministry of Health. (Courtesy photo)
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The Government is strengthening partnerships, integrating reproductive health services and improving accountability in the health sector as it seeks to close a $73.7m (sh289.5b) funding gap for family planning over the next five years.
The financing shortfall threatens efforts to expand access to contraceptive services, particularly among adolescents and young women, and sustain Uganda’s progress in reducing maternal deaths.
Dr John Paul Bagala, the Assistant Commissioner for Reproductive and Infant Health at the Ministry of Health, said Government currently finances only about 10% of the country’s identified family planning needs, making partnerships with development agencies, civil society organisations and other stakeholders critical.
“Dollar funding has been cut, and the cuts continue to come. But when you look at Government alone, we cover only 10% of the current need."
He said Uganda needed more than $22m for family planning interventions in 2025, while the costed implementation plan requires $73.7m over the next five years.
The Government’s strategy to address the family planning gap goes beyond mobilising additional funding. It includes better coordination of available resources, strengthening health systems and directing investments to communities with the greatest reproductive health needs.
“Family planning is the very first pillar of safe motherhood. Financing remains very critical,” said Bagala.
Uganda’s modern contraceptive prevalence rate among married women stands at 42.4%, against a national target of 47.8%, while the total fertility rate is about 5.2 children per woman.
Bagala said expanding access to modern contraceptives would enable women and couples to plan pregnancies and reduce health risks associated with repeated pregnancies.
The Ministry audits maternal deaths every Monday and Thursday to identify gaps and improve healthcare delivery.
Strengthening partnerships
With Government facing a limited resource envelope, the health ministry is strengthening partnerships to supplement domestic financing for reproductive health services. The ministry’s family planning technical working group meets monthly to assess service delivery, identify gaps and determine areas requiring additional investment.
It also works with development partners, civil society organisations, religious and cultural institutions and local governments to implement reproductive health programmes, particularly as international health funding comes under pressure.
The Government also wants family planning, HIV and sexual and gender-based violence services integrated into primary healthcare, especially for adolescents and young women.
The approach is particularly important in Kampala and Wakiso, where teenage pregnancy remains a challenge. The expansion of informal settlements and poverty have created additional barriers to accessing reproductive health services.
In communities such as Kisenyi and Kawaala, adolescents may face stigma, poverty and limited access to youth-friendly services.
The health ministry wants partners operating in Kampala and Wakiso to focus resources on communities with the highest needs while working through existing health structures.
Youth-friendly services
Technology is also being used by partners to improve access.
Dorah Taranta, the Tiko Uganda country director, said the organisation’s mobile platform connects girls and young women aged 15 to 24 in Kampala and Wakiso to free sexual and reproductive health services.
The platform allows users to identify nearby clinics, make confidential appointments, anonymously rate providers, receive feedback and get appointment reminders.
Taranta said 204,534 teenage girls and young women had accessed services through the platform since January, with many seeking HIV-related services.
“Many of those seeking HIV services are also seeking family planning,” she said.
The model allows clients to be referred to public facilities, while those unable to obtain particular services there can be connected to private providers.
Teenage pregnancy
The government is strengthening prevention of teenage pregnancy and child marriage as it seeks to close Uganda’s reproductive health financing gap.
Thirty-four percent (34%) of girls marry before 18, while 7% marry before 15, which Bagala describes as "economically terrible" for Uganda.
Poverty, limited youth-friendly services and social factors contribute to the problem. Health sector spending on teenage mothers reached sh246.9b in 2020, reflecting the cost of pregnancy complications.
The health ministry plans to expand family planning information and services before and after pregnancy, including counselling for young mothers. It also wants stronger involvement of men, communities, and religious and cultural leaders in reproductive health programmes.