Revamped family planning unit gives Wakiso couples hope

 

 

The facility located within the premises of Wakiso Health centre IV gives couples an opportunity to discuss their options with family planning providers in privacy. The busy centre receives between 200 and 250 people on a daily basis.

 

With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, JHPIEGO is implementing the Challenge Initiative (TCI) East Africa (Tupange for Better Cities) particularly in Uganda and jointly work with the Local Government to implement the project to scale up proven family planning interventions targeting men, women, and youth in Wakiso.

 

During the commissioning of the facility at Wakiso Health Centre IV, the president of JHPIEGO, Dr. Leslie Mancuso said with support from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, they reach out to young mothers and girls to enable them access family planning services.

 

 The renovated Family planning unit at Wakiso Health Centre IV.

She said her organisation works with health experts, governments and community leaders to provide high-quality healthcare for their people. 

 

"We develop strategies to help countries care for themselves by training competent healthcare workers, strengthening health systems and improving delivery of care," she told the press shortly after commissioning the facility.

 

Mancuso said that in Uganda and other African Countries where they operate, they want to reduce the unmet need for family planning.

 

"We want to reduce on the unmet need and we want to staff the facilities with all the necessities for the women and young girls in the communities where they operate," she emphasized.

 

According to Dr. Paul Zirimala, the manager of Wakiso Health Centre IV, the biggest challenges that they face at the facility are the culture believes from communities against the use of Family Planning.

 

Dr. Allan Ssemakula, the country head ‘Challenge Initiative' says that Wakiso district injected U$200,000 and received sh400m from the project.

 

He said, "Majority of the districts where they operate contribute funds towards the family planning agenda having realised that they have gaps in their settings and Jphiego matches the funds. The reasons why we do cost sharing in this project we want the district to own the project.

 

"We believe that if the district implements the project by themselves since they put money on the table they should be able to sustain these activities once we move away as a project," he said.