Taking health services to the people in the Albertine graben

Uganda has continued to grapple with the high unmet need for family planning services and other health care services especially in hard to reach areas but this trend will change in the Albertine graben stretching from West Nile to Kisoro.

Communities adjacent to protected resources such as national parks, forest reserves and water bodies in the Albertine graben are to benefit from a 3-year project jointly implemented by Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

The project which will run from 2019 to 2021 will see increased integration of Sexual Reproductive Health and Environmental sustainability in the conservation areas as avenues of saving the environment.

"These communities have been engaged in environmental conservation and protection but now we want them to also benefit from health care services to have improved livelihoods," said Ruyoka the advocacy Officer Reproductive Health Uganda.

Ruyoka said that services that will be offered at no cost include Family Planning, Antenatal care, Immunization, Post Abortion Care, Screening and sexually transmitted infections management, Infertility management and semen analysis.

Other services are screening for cervical cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer, safe male circumcision, ultrasound scan, Hepatitis B screening and vaccination, Treatment of ailments, Laboratory services, Condom (male and female) distribution, and Youth friendly services.

These services will be offered in the form of static clinics, outreaches and surgical camps to be held in all the districts in the Albertine graben right from West Nile to Kisoro.

"We shall continue with our static clinic services where we operate but also conduct outreaches and surgical camps in the targeted areas to ensure services are brought closer to the community," said Ruyoka.

Martin Asiimwe the forest and bio-diversity manager at WWF country office told New Vision that it has been learnt that communities adjacent to protected resources have poor services especially in health and this prompted them to come up with this intervention to help the communities.

"We have been operating in these areas for quite some time but we learnt that all communities adjacent to protected resources such as forests, national parks and lakes have gaps in service delivery and that is why we decided to partner with RHU to offer health care services," said Asiimwe.

Paul Mulindwa the executive director Kitara civil society organisations' Network (KCSON) with which RHU and WWF will be implementing the project said initially they were focusing on environmental conservation and livelihood improvement but the element of health care service delivery was not considered.

"We are happy that this intervention is coming on board because now the package we give to the communities where we operate shall be complete," said Mulindwa.

Mulindwa said that they have already organised the communities adjacent to protected areas to form village savings and loans associations that have helped them get an alternative source of money instead of entirely being dependent on the natural resources which lead to their destruction in search for a livelihood.

RHU and WWF have been working together since 2017 through the national collaboration before the event the partnership agreement.

The essence of the initial engagements was geared towards the creation of joint synergies in the areas of operation in Kisoro, Kabale, Kanungu and Bushenyi but now districts in the mid-western and West Nile region have also been brought on board.

So far RHU and WWF have conducted joint outreaches in the conservation areas in south-west such as Bwindi national park, Mgahinga national park, Queen Elizabeth national park, Kalinzu central forest reserve in Rubirizi district among others.

Joint community empowerment and awareness campaigns have been done and also linked the communities to other conservation agencies such as Uganda Wild Life Authority (UWA)

At the community level, there will be training by both WWF and RHU and formation of community family planning and Environment Sustainability champions targeting the Youth, Women and Men.

Presiding over the launch of the project at Nuel Hotel in Kagadi town John Alibankoha the vice chairman and secretary for health and education asked the implementing partners to ensure the district local government is integrated with all the activities.

"We don't want a project where the district will just be like spectators and when it ends all its activities disappear in the blue," said Alibankoha.

He reiterated the district's commitment to support the implementation of the project because it will be complementing on government efforts.