The COMONETH project which is slated to run from mid-2017 through mid-2020 targets the mother, her unborn baby (to prevent stillbirths) and the newly born baby (to reduce neonatal deaths) in Luuka District in Eastern Uganda.
In Luuka District women are very poor and live on average 30 Km from the nearest hospital, Iganga, which is in the neighbouring district. Therefore, most do not have access to a hospital for emergency obstetric and neonatal care, no newborn care exists in health facilities for sick newborns, and community services are non-existent. Preventive services along the continuum of care are poor and pregnant women rarely get the full package along the continuum.
Luuka lacks a hospital but has one Health Centre (HC) IV, and 8 HC IIIs (where women can deliver from), and 20 HC IIs (which provide outpatient care). In addition, simple yet effective interventions like KMC are lacking within the district. Communities have not mobilized due to the absence of effective community structures or leadership. Whereas there are high rates of mortality and morbidity for mothers and babies, this is rarely used as an opportunity to mobilize communities to change the status quo (for instance through community death audit and response).
Study Aim
The aim of this project is to design and implement a community owned but facility-linked district-wide intervention that promotes high coverage with preventive care and improves quality of clinical care equitably leading to impact on maternal, perinatal and neonatal mortality in rural Uganda. The project envisions a sustainable and scalable empowered communities and responsive health facilities that care about outcomes for mothers and newborns.
“Along the continuum of care, we want to see an ANC, delivery and postnatal care package including both preventive and curative interventions delivered to women and newborn babies. We will promote evidence based interventions such as ANC and optimizing uptake of available interventions in the district, increased health facility delivery with quality, increased access to C/S and other comprehensive emergence obstetric services, increased uptake of postnatal care including warm care, breastfeeding, and clean cord care; increased uptake of KMC for small babies, increased access to neonatal resuscitation for babies with birth asphyxia, and increased care for sick babies. Our aim is to see that communities and community-based organisations are at the centre of improving their own health. For postnatal mothers, we will promote access to family planning and other preventive care.”
Team Leader: Prof Peter Waiswa | pwaiswa@musph.ac.ug
Co-Team Leader: Dr Elizabeth Ekirapa-Kiracho | ekky@musph.ac.ug
Timeline: 2017-2020