Inequalities in the burden of disease and access to health care is a prominent concern in Uganda and other sub-Saharan African countries. This is a systematic review of socio-economic differences in morbidity and access to health care in Uganda. It includes published studies from electronic databases and official reports from surveys done by government, bilateral and multilateral agencies and universities. The outcome measures studied were: the distribution of HIV/AIDS; maternal and child morbidity; and access to and utilisation of health services for people belonging to different socio-economic and vulnerability groups. Forty-eight of 678 identified studies met our inclusion criteria. Results indicate that the poor and vulnerable experience a greater burden of disease but have lower access to health services than the less poor. Barriers to access arise from both the service providers and the consumers. Distance to service points, perceived quality of care and availability of drugs are key determinants of utilisation. Other barriers are perceived lack of skilled staff in public facilities, late referrals, health worker attitude, costs of care and lack of knowledge. Longitudinal and controlled studies are needed to see if strategies to improve access to services reach the poor.

BackgroundReducing neonatal-related deaths is one of the major bottlenecks to achieving Millennium Development Goal 4. Studies in Asia and South America have shown that neonatal mortality can be reduced through community-based interventions, but these have not been adapted to scalable intervention packages for sub-Saharan Africa where the culture, health system and policy environment is different. In Uganda, health outcomes are poor for both mothers and newborn babies. Policy opportunities for neonatal health include the new national Health Sector Strategic Plan, which now prioritizes newborn health including use of a community model through Village Health Teams (VHT). The aim of the present study is to adapt, develop and cost an integrated maternal-newborn care package that links community and facility care, and to evaluate its effect on maternal and neonatal practices in order to inform policy and scale-up in Uganda.Methods/DesignThrough formative research around evidence-based practices, and dialogue with policy and technical advisers, we constructed a home-based neonatal care package implemented by the responsible VHT member, effectively a Community Health Worker (CHW). This CHW was trained to identify pregnant women and make five home visits - two before and three just after birth - so that linkages will be made to facility care and targeted messages for home-care and care-seeking delivered. The project is improving care in health units to provide standardized care for the mother and the newborn in both intervention and comparison areas.The study is taking place in a new Demographic Surveillance Site in two rural districts, Iganga and Mayuge, in Uganda. It is a two-arm cluster randomized controlled design with 31 intervention and 32 control areas (villages). The comparison parishes receive the standard care already being provided by the district, but to the intervention villages are added a system for CHWs to visit the mother five times in her home during pregnancy and the neonatal period. Both areas benefit from a standardized strengthening of facility care for mothers and neonates.DiscussionUNEST is designed to directly feed into the operationalization of maternal and newborn care in the national VHT strategy, thereby helping to inform scale-up in rural Uganda. The study is registered as a randomized controlled trial, number ISRCTN50321130.

Introduction Approximately 34.8% of the Ugandan population is adolescents. The national teenage pregnancy rate is 25% and in Kibuku district, 17.6% of adolescents aged 12–19 years have begun child bearing. Adolescents mothers are vulnerable to many maternal health challenges including; stigma, unfriendly services and early marriages. The community score card (CSC) is a social accountability tool that can be used to point out challenges faced by the community in service delivery and utilization and ultimately address them. In this paper we aimed to document the challenges faced by adolescents during pregnancy, delivery and postnatal period and the extent to which the community score card could address these challenges. Methods This qualitative study utilized in-depth interviews conducted in August 2018 among 15 purposively selected adolescent women who had given birth 2 years prior to the study and had attended CSC meetings. The study was conducted in six sub counties of Kibuku district where the CSC intervention was implemented. Research assistants transcribed the audio-recorded interviews verbatim, and data was analyzed manually using the framework analysis approach. Findings This study found five major maternal health challenges faced by adolescents during pregnancy namely; psychosocial challenges, physical abuse, denial of basic human rights, unfriendly adolescent services, lack of legal and cultural protection, and lack of birth preparedness. The CSC addressed general maternal and new born health issues of the community as a whole rather than specific adolescent health related maternal health challenges. Conclusion The maternal health challenges faced by adolescents in Kibuku have a cultural, legal, social and health service dimension. There is therefore need to look at a multi-faceted approach to holistically address them. CSCs that are targeted at the entire community are unlikely to address specific needs of vulnerable groups such as adolescents. To address the maternal health challenges of adolescents, there is need to have separate meetings with adolescents, targeted mobilization for adolescents to attend meetings and deliberate inclusion of their maternal health challenges into the CSC.

BackgroundPromotion of birth preparedness and raising awareness of potential complications is one of the main strategies to enhance the timely utilisation of skilled care at birth and overcome barriers to accessing care during emergencies.ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate factors associated with birth preparedness in three districts of eastern central Uganda.DesignThis was a cross-sectional baseline study involving 2,010 women from Iganga [community health worker (CHW) strategy], Buyende (vouchers for transport and services), and Luuka (standard care) districts who had delivered within the past 12 months. ‘Birth prepared’ was defined as women who had taken all of the following three key actions at least 1 week prior to the delivery: 1) chosen where to deliver from; 2) saved money for transport and hospital costs; and 3) bought key birth materials (a clean instrument to cut the cord, a clean thread to tie the cord, cover sheet, and gloves). Logistical regression was performed to assess the association of various independent variables with birth preparedness.ResultsOnly about 25% of respondents took all three actions relating to preparing for childbirth, but discrete actions (e.g. financial savings and identification of place to deliver) were taken by 75% of respondents. Variables associated with being prepared for birth were: having four antenatal care (ANC) visits [adjusted odds ratio (ORA)=1.42; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.10–1.83], attendance of ANC during the first (ORA=1.94; 95% CI 1.09–3.44) or second trimester (ORA=1.87; 95% CI 1.09–3.22), and counselling on danger signs during pregnancy or on place of referral (ORA=2.07; 95% CI 1.57–2.74). Other associated variables included being accompanied by one's husband to the place of delivery (ORA=1.47; 95% CI 1.15–1.89), higher socio-economic status (ORA=2.04; 95% CI 1.38–3.01), and having a regular income (ORA=1.83; 95% CI 1.20–2.79). Women from Luuka and Buyende were less likely to have taken three actions compared with women from Iganga (ORA=0.72; 95% CI 0.54–0.98 and ORA=0.37; 95% CI 0.27–0.51, respectively).ConclusionsEngaging CHWs and local structures during pregnancy may be an effective strategy in promoting birth preparedness. On the other hand, if not well designed, the use of vouchers could disempower families in their efforts to prepare for birth. Other effective strategies for promoting birth preparedness include early ANC attendance, attending ANC at least four times, and male involvement.

Background In Uganda 13% of persons have at least one form of disability. The United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities guarantees persons with disabilities the same level of right to access quality and affordable healthcare as persons without disability. Understanding the needs of women with walking disabilities is key in formulating flexible, acceptable and responsive health systems to their needs and hence to improve their access to care. This study therefore explores the maternal and newborn health (MNH)-related needs of women with walking disabilities in Kibuku District Uganda. Methods We carried out a qualitative study in September 2017 in three sub-counties of Kibuku district. Four In-depth Interviews (IDIs) among purposively selected women who had walking disabilities and who had given birth within two years from the study date were conducted. Trained research assistants used a pretested IDI guide translated into the local language to collect data. All IDIs were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim before analysis. The thematic areas explored during analysis included psychosocial, mobility, health facility and personal needs of women with walking disabilities. Data was analyzed manually using framework analysis. Results We found that women with walking disabilities had psychosocial, mobility, special services and personal needs. Psychosocial needs included; partners’, communities’, families’ and health workers’ acceptance. Mobility needs were associated with transport unsuitability, difficulty in finding transport and high cost of transport. Health facility needs included; infrastructure, and responsive health services needs while personal MNH needs were; personal protective wear, basic needs and birth preparedness items. Conclusions Women with walking disabilities have needs addressable by their communities and the health system. Communities, and health workers need to be sensitized on these needs and policies to meet and implement health system-related needs of women with disability.