Kampala, 4 February 2008 -- At the conclusion of  his official visit to Uganda, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Gomes Sambo, thanked the government for inviting him to visit the country in order to have discussions and visit places that relate to the programme of collaboration between WHO and Uganda.

He noted with satisfaction the good progress made  by Uganda, particularly the existence of a good National Health Policy and a sector strategic plan that is working well.

He noted with keen  interest two best practices in the sector that have the potential of assisting Uganda to achieve the health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). One of these  is the Village Health Teams (VHT) -  a community based concept that has been successfully implemented in Mpigi district with the support of the local government authorities. The other is  the Making Pregnancy Safer (MPS) initiative being implemented in  Soroti district where  a  substantial reduction of maternal mortality has been recorded  over time. He called for the scaling up of these good practices to cover other districts in the country.

On health care financing, Dr Sambo noted the increasing allocation of resources to health, but encouraged government to move from the current 9.6% to the recommended 15% according to the Abuja Declaration.

Dr Sambo was satisfied with good partnerships that exist with bilateral and multilateral organisations and called for  the strengthening of this relationship for increased coordination and development of the health system in Uganda.

Turning to human resources for health, Dr Sambo recognized that Uganda has good human resource capacity but the issue of retention needs to be addressed given its central role within the health system.

Dr Sambo called for strong cross-boarder collaboration between Uganda and neighbouring countries within the context of strengthening Integrated Disease Surveillance to address epidemic outbreaks. WHO will continue to advocate for this.

During his visit Dr Sambo held talks with the Vice President of Uganda Professor Gilbert Bukenya, the Prime Minister Professor Apollo Nsibambi, the Minister of Health Hon Stephen Mallinga, UN head of agencies and NGOs. He visited the Quality Chemical Pharmaceutical plant, the Village Health Team members in Mudduma, Mpigi district, the Uganda Virus Research Institute, and the Mild May Center.

For more information contact:

Benjamin Sensasi
Health Information and Promotion Officer
WHO Country Office 
Tel 256-414-335500 
Email: Sensasib [at] ug.afro.who.int (Sensasib[at]ug[dot]afro[dot]who[dot]int)