Blog

“Rather than blaming health workers, we should examine our individual and collective efforts towards reducing the avoidable maternal and perinatal deaths. From the expectant woman, family members, health workers, general public, policy makers, media, funders, religious leaders, to ministries, we should all become advocates of a responsive and functional health system,” writes David R. Walugembe […]

By Kakaire Ayub Kirunda | Saidah, a mother of twins, who were born preterm would never have imagined that such tiny babies weighing 1.2 and 1.6 kilogrammes would survive. It was a first experience for her. She was however surprised that as time passed, her babies grew bigger. For that, Saidah and her husband Mawazi […]

BY PROF PETER WAISWA | When Kawuma’s wife went into labour in the wee hours of that night on a date which he doesn’t recall four years ago, his option was to rush her to the nearest government Health Centre IV which serves his Kisenyi slum in Kampala. However, the gate man told him there […]

BY GERALDINE AGIREMBABAZI | Mid last month, more than 400 participants from 35 countries of Africa, Europe, Asia and America gathered at Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast city in Accra-Ghana for the 5th African Health Economic and Policy Association (AfHEA) Biennial Scientific Conference to discuss the innovative ways for securing primary health care (PHC) for all. […]

ROGERS MANDU | It is the joy of every mother to walk home with a live baby having carried a pregnancy, regardless of the gestational age. Several stories are documented of women that give birth to preterm babies before 37 completed weeks of gestation. In the six hospitals of Jinja Regional Referral, Iganga General, Kamuli […]

By Darious Kajjo | Busoga like any other region in Uganda has a regional referral system where specialists from the regional hospital support district hospitals in the catchment area for improved health service delivery. However, the quality of care for maternal and newborn services remains poor. The Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH) with […]

By Doris Kwesiga | In mid-2017, I attended a meeting preparing for introduction of maternal immunization in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). A large part of the discussion was around the need to be able to track adverse outcomes in the community, but options on an available cohort to do so were few. The […]

By Elizabeth Hentschel | As I reflect on my past month in Uganda with the Community in which Mothers and Newborns Thrive (COMONETH) Project team in Luuka District of Eastern Uganda, I am overwhelmed by how much I have gained from my internship. I’ve seen firsthand how VHTs (also known as community health workers), provided […]

By Elizabeth Hentschel I am currently interning at the Community in Which Mothers and Newborns Thrive (COMONETH) through Makerere’s Centre for Excellence in Maternal Newborn and Child Health. The COMONETH Project is based in the rural district of Luuka and is composed of three main components- the facility, community, and monitoring and evaluation components. Based […]

By David Mukunya | Kyogero is a popular herbal mixture commonly used in central Uganda used to bath newborns. It is composed of various herbs that are believed to; smoothen the baby’s skin, give blessings to the newborn, immunize the baby against both physical and spiritual diseases, and to improve the child’s intellect. It is […]