Today, May 21, marks the kick-off of a Doctors with Africa CUAMM’s project in partnership with UNICEF, in all nine districts of the Karamoja region in Uganda. The intervention aims to strengthen the health system to ensure better access to and use of quality health services with a focus on nutrition, HIV, and emergency health management including Covid-19. The project is particularly dedicated to the most vulnerable groups: women, children and adolescents, and it is part of a larger pre-existing programme of collaboration between UNICEF and the Ugandan government. The projects has the following main objectives:
- Enhancing the capacity building of district authorities to plan, coordinate, implement and monitor integrated services, along with strengthening the capacity of health facilities to provide these services;
- Increasing the involvement of communities to promote changes in attitudes and behaviours, and increasing demand for and use of integrated services.
- Improving the capacity of prevention, preparedness and response to emergencies related to natural disasters and public health. In particular, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, UNICEF has provided additional funding to help Doctors with Africa Cuamm in implementing vaccination activities in the region in support of the Ugandan Ministry of Health, and in strengthening community awareness on Covid-19;
In Moroto, in the presence of the Ugandan Minister of Primary Health Care and the Country Representatives for CUAMM and UNICEF, an event is taking place to launch the project and the Community Engagement Strategy, the ministerial strategy for community engagement to ensure that people are adequately sensitised and actively contribute to prevent and control the spread of the virus. To achieve broader community engagement, special attention will be paid to raise awareness on this strategy among religious leaders.
