Uganda engages communities in bodily and psychological well being actions as a part of the World Well being Day Commemoration

The Ugandan Ministry of Well being, the World Well being Group (WHO), and its companions carried out awareness-raising and group engagement actions to commemorate World Well being Day in Uganda. In keeping with the theme “My well being, my proper,” these actions included a public sports activities stroll, mass screening for communicable and non-communicable ailments (NCDs), and a blood donation drive.

The occasion was organized on the WHO Nation Workplace in Kololo, Uganda. It introduced collectively the nation’s stakeholders, together with authorities representatives, the UN household, growth and implementation companions, and the media.

World Well being is commemorated each seventh of April, this version takes place simply six years earlier than the analysis of nations’ progress towards attaining common well being protection, the Ministry of Well being and WHO emphasised the necessity to strengthen collaborative efforts to help Uganda in making certain equitable entry to complete well being companies.

“Guaranteeing that each one Ugandans absolutely take pleasure in their proper to well being requires collaborative efforts from all sectors, companions, and communities beneath the one well being method,” mentioned Dr Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero, Uganda’s Minister of Well being. “It’s my attraction that all of us channel our energies in the direction of attaining common well being protection in Uganda,” she added.

In the course of the “Stroll the Speak” public sports activities stroll, members had been inspired to have interaction in actions that promote bodily and psychological well being. With help from the STOP TB Partnership, Victoria College Medical Centre, and Uganda Blood Transfusion Providers, members had been screened for non-communicable ailments, together with diabetes, hypertension, and weight problems, in addition to communicable ailments comparable to HIV, hepatitis B, and tuberculosis.

Dr Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam, WHO Consultant to Uganda, welcomed the nation’s progress in key healthcare areas. “Uganda has made important progress in decreasing maternal and little one mortality, in addition to new HIV infections by 40% between 2010 and 2022. These outcomes are commendable, however additional efforts are wanted to make sure that all folks in Uganda have entry to built-in, person-centered well being companies,” he mentioned.

Physician Yonas added that implementing the present public well being insurance policies, methods, and tips, bettering effectivity in using sources, and selling group empowerment and participation will speed up Uganda’s progress in the direction of attaining common well being protection.

Like many different international locations, Uganda is consistently affected by public well being emergencies, together with the latest Ebola outbreak, COVID-19, and the present meals insecurity within the Karamoja area. The nation additionally faces socio-economic challenges that end in unequal entry to complete well being companies, with greater than half of its inhabitants not absolutely coated.

WHO continues to work with its companions, mobilizing monetary and technical sources to help the nation in bettering its well being system to attain Common Well being Protection.