Uganda is in the African Great Lakes region. Uganda also lies within the Nile basin and has a varied but generally a modified equatorial climate. It has a population of over 42 million, of which 8.5 million live in the capital and largest city of Kampala. +006 from Kenya and Tanzania. In the first half of 2021, Uganda's Finance Ministry reported that 28 % of Ugandans were poor. That rate had increased from 18 % before the pandemic. In line with World Bank practice, the official poverty line is the equivalent of $ 1.90 purchasing power per day and head
Stichting Uruma Uganda Community Outreach Health Programs:
Community outreach programs are an important vehicle for reducing the discovery-
delivery disconnect by bringing health education and Health screening services directly
to community members. Such programs are consistent with the priority areas of
Stitching Uruma Uganda initiatives for reducing health disparities. Outreach programs
are important tools for bringing health education and screening services directly to
community members and serve to contribute to reducing health disparities. They assist
communities and hospitals to reach mutually beneficial goals that would otherwise not
be achievable for promoting accessible and equitable care
In collaboration with Kampala City Council Authority and Abii Clinic –Wandegeya, the
program involves visiting different community and slum groups to provide medical care.
For many people in these areas, they cannot afford to go to pharmacies and hospitals,
so we come to them instead. They often do not have a lot of education on hygiene or
access to clean water, so even a simple cut can be life threatening and cause major
problems.
There is a huge range of injuries and illnesses you could encounter while on this
program but working with local doctors and community leaders we are able to form a plan of action to support these individuals. Where people require additional treatment or
support we have partnerships with local clinics to provide the best possible ongoing
care.
Stichting Uruma’s Enabling Girls to Advance Gender Equity (ENGAGE) initiative works
in partnership with TEENS Uganda and Mengo Youth Development Link to reduce the
prevalence of child marriage and improve girls’ health and education outcomes in
Uganda.
With support from local businesses and individuals, this ground breaking initiative
strengthens the work of visionary local leaders and organizations to improve
opportunities for adolescent girls, increase their access to quality health and family
planning services, and empower them to advocate for gender equity and end child
marriage in their communities.
In rural regions of Uganda, child marriage rates average 50%, with girls being married
off as early as age 10.
ENGAGE invests in local leaders and their solutions to advance the health, education,
rights, and wellbeing of girls in Uganda. ENGAGE employs a multi-pronged approach
that empowers vulnerable adolescent girls to increase their autonomy and decision-
making agency, advances more gender equitable social norms, and collaborates with
other civil society actors to hold decision-makers accountable for ending child marriage
Stichting Uruma Uganda fosters community mobilization in support of “Health for All”. We
mobilize, organize and sensitize mostly under-served and vulnerable communities to
get access to free health services. We make sure we bring together as many
stakeholders as possible to raise people’s awareness about a particular health concern
and demand for the necessary programme, to assist in the delivery of the required
resources and health services.
Our community mobilization advances health as part of development, helps people to
help themselves, contributes to development of primary health care infrastructure in its
broadest sense, encourages its sustainability through sound financing schemes,
promotes integration of health care with community priorities and helps to bridge the
gap between community and health services
Community Organization; is about creating self-awareness as an active people and
community centered organization. Although communities we reach out have implicit
systems which have always existed and survived, from the point of view of health
services at least, a community should have a representative body like Stichting Uruma
Uganda to liaise and communicate with. This will give the community an explicit and
functional structure
Community Mobilization; our strategy is more than simply motivation to participate in
a particular health activity. Our components relate to the process that allows the
creativity of the community to influence health care delivery, through its physical, social,
economic, and spiritual potential. This has tremendous effect on health systems and
therefore it is clear that with such potential the community should be involved in all
aspects of health care
Community Involvement; the expression and outcome of commitment and ownership
by the community. It shows the community is empowered to take decisions about its
affairs. The components of our community involvement comprise all the achievements
made in the decision-making with regard to management, organization, resources,
economics and delivery of health –for-all programmes
Stichting Uruma Uganda’s community mobilization is strategically intended to
strengthen community participation for sustainability and self-reliance
Cervical Cancer (HPV) Outreach Programs
National data on cervical cancer burden in Uganda is not available. However, based on
data from the population-based Kampala Cancer Registry (KCR), Uganda has one of
the highest cervical cancer incidence rates in the world. The age-standardized
incidence rate per 100, 000 is 47.5, which is more than three times the global estimate
(15.8). Cervical cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women and the
2 nd most frequent cancer among women aged 15–44 years. It contributes to about 40%
of all malignancies reported by KCR, which represent 50-60% of all female
malignancies. Current estimates show that annually, approximately 3500 women are
newly diagnosed and 2400 die from cervical cancer. Projections show that by 2025,
about 6400 new cervical cancer cases and 4300 deaths will occur annually
Stichting Uruma Uganda is collaborating with ABII Clinic Wandegeya to implement the
Universal Routine Cervical Cancer (HPV) vaccination for young girls in Uganda
government Programme in Kawempe division since 2021 using the Educate and Treat
method which includes sensitizing community members and schools on cervical cancer
prevention, control measures and vaccination targeting girls aged 9-15
Stichting Uruma Uganda team works closely with the ABII Clinic, Victoria University
Public Health student interns, community-based staff, community leaders, Village
Health Teams (VHTs) to mobilise community members to participate in program
activities. In Kawempe division, the cervical cancer outreach programs have been
conducted in Makerere Yellow Primary School, Nsangi Junior & primary school,
Wandegeya Muslim Primary school and the following communities; Mulago I, II and
Triangle Zone, Kimwanyi and Soweto zone in Katanga slum, Wandegeya Market area,
including market vendors, garages and restaurants
HPV vaccination outreach program has brought together different stakeholders
including teachers, and health workers in the departments of reproductive health,
immunization, adolescent health and cancer who normally do not work together. This
has provided an opportunity to pool together available resources. With ample planning
and appropriate packaging of messages to the community, it is feasible to deliver an
HPV vaccine to young adolescent girls using existing health and educational
infrastructure if adequate financial resources are available
Summary of Cervical Cancer (HPV) Outreach Statistics for August – September
2022
In Uganda, April and October are months dedicated to reaching every child and woman
with critical health care services like catch-up vaccinations, deworming and vitamin A
supplementation – in addition to family planning services and general health education.
These special days are commonly known as Integrated Child Health Days.
In collaboration with ABII Clinic Wandegeya, Victoria University Public Health student
interns, and volunteers, and with support from FHI, Stichting Uruma Uganda mobilizes
mostly under-served communities to turn up for services provided during these special
days that include: routine and catch-up immunization for children under the age of 1;
immunization of 10-year-old girls against cancer of the cervix with the HPV vaccine;
immunization of girls and women (15 to 49 years) against tetanus and diphtheria with
the TD vaccine; hepatitis B screening and vaccination for those 18 years and above;
vitamin A supplementation for children aged 6 to 59 months; deworming for in-school
and out-of-school children from 1 to 14 years; early infant diagnosis of HIV for children
from 6 weeks to 18 months; eye screening for children from 1 month to 15 years; and
immunization of girls and women against tetanus from 15 to 49 years. These days do
not replace the regular immunization routine services but rather compliment them to
ensure every child is reached with life-saving vaccines. So far, the communities reached
out for these health services include; Mulago I, II and Triangle zones, Kimwanyi and
Kimwanyi zones in Katanga slum, Wandegeya community, including the market,
garages and restaurants
Gesa Mike Munabi, extreme right, the Country Director and Mutyaba John Bosco, Field
Officer of Stichting Uruma Uganda, a Netherlands based International Humanitarian
NGO and Madam Wanyana, Coordinator, Village Health Teams, Wandegeya during a
Community Health Outreach in Katanga Slum in Wandegeya, Kampala.
