By Juliana Nantaba

As the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target date of 2015 approaches, it is essential to take stock of Uganda’s progress.  Even though in the past years, Uganda’s infant mortality rate and maternal mortality have declined, an inexcusable amount of children and pregnant women still die every year from preventable causes. Health is a human right and a matter of social justice. Better and more equitable health outcomes increase productivity and resilience, reduce poverty and promote social stability.

The 2013 Report Of The Commission On The Post 2015 Development Agenda: Towards An African Common Position And Modalities For Establishment Of A Committee Of Heads Of State And Government On The Post 2015 Development Agenda reveals that some of the factors contributing to inadequate achievement of the child health MDGs include weak health systems (physical and financial barriers to essential health services, shortage of medicine, poor human resources) and poor conditions as determinants of health (household education, income, insufficient and inappropriate nutritional practices, poor sanitation facilities).

The causes of maternal mortality and morbidity are well known and mainly result from the inability of a health system to deal effectively with complications, especially during or shortly after childbirth. The availability of skilled health providers is critical in ensuring high-quality antenatal, delivery, emergency obstetric and post-natal services.

Health as a right is an important driver and key indicator of what sustainable development seeks to achieve.  One of the reasons why the MDGs have been widely affirmed as a good tool for development is that they were globally agreed; however, there is need to ensure that they are locally relevant and mutually owned.

The post-MDG framework must promote and facilitate genuine and representative country ownership that gives attention to accountability including downward accountability to beneficiaries.

In light of the above, CEHURD is currently undertaking a GO4HEALTH project  to identify, engage and involve stakeholders in the formulation of global health goals to follow-on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) beyond 2015.

The purpose of the project is to inform European Commission on how new goal to right to health should be and advise on how new ideas should be set through community consultations. The project is being done across the globe including Africa, Asia and South America. The African region has selected three countries i.e. Zimbabwe, south Africa and Uganda. Each of these countries has unique characteristics and will provide unique insights for the consultations.

With the end of the current MDGs less than 1000 days away, there is still much work to be done to achieve the health goals. The feedback from various CSOs consultations on health priorities for post 2015 state that the Post-2015 framework presents a massive opportunity to improve global health and should build on and improve the current health MDGs.

Each child should be able to live up to their full potential, intellectually and physically. Each young adult should be taught and empowered to live a healthy lifestyle, including reproductive and sexual health. And, through demographic and ageing transitions, each adult should be able to age gracefully with minimal morbidity and maximum functionality.

By Serunjogi Francis, Communications Officer

According to the Uganda demographic survey, 26.4% of the girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are sexually active and can readily give birth. On the other hand, 16 million girls under the age of 16 years give birth each year worldwide (United Nations Populations fund). A community intervention recommended that if the girl child is to be protected, early sexual reproductive health literacy training should be done.

This should be complemented with creation of awareness on contraception use, accessibility and availability of reproduction health services. This will save these young people from getting “unwanted” pregnancies, and will also avail them with basic knowledge about HIV AIDS and other STIs. Creating awareness through sensitization programs is highly recommendable.

Interventions can include, making out reaches to education institutions by different stake holders to talk to students about sexual reproductive health and can create more impact if parents and teachers are involved. On the other hand, having students in closed sessions with health practitioners make it easier for them to open.

On 6th June 2013 the Center for Health Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) organized a Health Literacy Program in the Districts of Kiboga and Kyankwanzi. The aim of the training was to facilitate community participation in improving sexual reproductive health (SRH) for the youth of Mulagi, Wattuba and Gayaza sub-counties using the Participatory Reflection Action (PRA) processes.

The programme was carried out in Buyimbaazi Senior secondary school and aimed at improving youth knowledge in SRH and to strengthen relations with health workers and the health system in general by engineering discussions on youth friendly services.

The training included technical and vocational schools which enabled to reach out to youth that are not in secondary schools for reasons such as dropping out of school due to early teenage pregnancy.

According to Nantaba Juliana, the programme Officer, Community Empowerment Programme at CEHURD, “Health literacy refers to people’s ability to obtain, interpret and understand basic health information and health services and to use such information and services in ways that promote their health.”

The Health Literacy program gives an all-inclusive approach to SRH with the perspective that the boy child too has a role to play. This draws away from the common Health Literacy on SRH that is only focused to the girl child.

Generally it is important to mobilize the wider communities to join efforts to meet the sexual reproductive health needs of the youth. Emphasis should be put on both girls and boys.