'Govt recognises midwives' saving life initiatives'

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The Government recognises midwives in the country, though relations remain strained due to issues of welfare, health ministry commissioner for nursing and midwifery Evelyn Komugisha has said.

She, however, adds that the Government has taken strides to ensure the whole medical fraternity is safe and receives what is intended for them in the country.

“I want to acknowledge the welfare challenges amid daunting tasks,” Komugisha says, adding that the Government is doing its best to ensure the issue is solved amicably.

She further said the midwives do a lot of work to save lives in their respective communities, adding that their work schedules cannot be overstated.  

Presiding over the closure of the two-day health symposium at Hotel Leslona in Moroto town on May 4, 2026, Komugisha urged midwives to work towards the welfare of the mothers and their newborns.

Midwives attend the two-day symposium at Hotel Leslona, Moroto. (Photo by Olandason Wanyama)

An estimated 500 midwives and nurses from different regions in the country arrived in Moroto town on Sunday ahead of the International Day of Midwives commemorations today, May 5.

The celebration to be held at the Moroto Boma Ground will be under the theme: One million, more midwives.

Meanwhile, the in-charge Moroto Regional Referral Hospital, Dr Steven Pande, commended the midwives for ensuring a decline in the use of traditional birth attendants in facilitating the birth of children at the community level.

“There is a noticeable decline in the Karamoja region,’ he said, adding that the trend has increased with more mothers seeking healthcare from certified health facilities.

“We now see many of our women giving birth in health centres.”

Pande said as a result, there are reduced maternal mortality rates in the sub-region.

He said that while, the health centre deliveries have increased in the recent past, midwife involvement remains an uphill task.

“They have to go out for mobilisation during the outreach initiatives,” Pande said, adding that in the past the TBA’s were more pronounced in the sub-region, performing all the deliveries at the individual, family and community level.

He says their role was to provide midwifery services in the community with mothers visiting as a result of lack of midwives in the country some decades ago.

However, the government will continue to recruit more midwives over the years to fill the gaps that the TBA’s had taken up in the community.

Pande added that the picture in the Karamoja was quite different, saying the region needs 196 to meet its target of 1,013 midwives while Moroto district specifically requires only 80 personnel to close the midwives gap.