Issue 8, December 2018 In this issue. Welcome to the 8th edition of the quarterly health news- News from the new SPHU letter from Enabel together with the Ministry of Health, project Uganda. This issue aspires to reach out to all health News from Ministry of Health policy makers and health workers all over Uganda. Uganda Get closing updates on the ICB II & PNFP projects, the Parting shots from ICB II and new SPHU project, the SDHR project as well as on PNFP activities of the Ministry of Health. Have an enjoyable read! SDHR update 1 ICB II Project By Dora Anek, Communications Focal Point, Enabel Health Project ICB II Project in the Ministry of Health made an entry into its last quarter of the year with a mandate to achieve the set targets before official closure later this year. Key on the list of planned and achieved activities was the organisational assessment of selected district councils to ensure a smooth transition to the SPHU Project carried out between September and October 2018. One of the key Enabel prerequisites for the approval of grants for new projects is both a satisfactory result of both an Organizational Assessment of the recipient and the positive feedback from the financial audits of Districts Councils and supported Health Facilities performed by independent organiza- tions. A patient await examination by the laboratory technician at Moyo Hospital. Photo by Rachael Ayebale Parting shots from the ICB II project The project organised a successful financial management A pro-active training for extended district support teams in West training for new public RBF health facilities in Moyo district. Nile was carried out by the project in collaboration with the The training targeted in-charges, focal persons and records Ministry of Health, Quality Assurance department to ensure that assistants. This training served as a platform of offering a de- district offices and management teams are strengthened in their tailed overview of financial aspects including financial planning/ capacity to integrate health systems and to strengthen quality of forecasting, budgeting, record keeping, auditing, for RBF imple- care in West Nile region from 26th to 30th November 2018. mentation principles. The project has procured 30 additional e-patient file ICT ICB II project jointly organized with PNFP Project the second equipment (Tablets) to ease the electronic verification of health Capitalisation Workshop in conjunction with Makerere facilities and also boost the digitalisation drive being champi- University School of Public Health (MakSPH). oned in the two implementing regions. This workshop is foreseen to continue the process of turning ex- periences into capitalisation results and communication stories. Participants were expected to have participated in the capitalisa- tion processes within their organisations/districts. The workshop took place on the 28th to 30th November 2018 comprising of key MOH staff, Medical Bureaus, District Health Management teams (DHMT), health facility staff and Enabel staff. As project wrap-up, arrangements were made to carry out an End Term Review (ETR) of all Public and PNFP health facilities in the two regions as a mandatory requirement for closure. The ETR Auditors visited the two regions during the month of December 2018 and gave a debrief of the draft report to key stakeholders in view of findings. A technician carries out an ultrasound scan on an expectant mother as a nurse looks on. Photo by Rachael Ayebale 2 PNFP Project By Dora Anek, Communications Focal Point, Enabel Health Project Given the upcoming closure of the PNFP project and related Technical Support to hospitals in IT and follow up on patient files transition to the SPHU project, Enabel in collaboration with the in Rwenzori and West Nile was carried out between 25th Ministry of Health has made arrangements for the organizational November and 1st December 2018 on the usage and operationali- assessment of the District Councils. The assessment is cognizant sation of patient files. In view of the reason that the hardware and of the results of the financial Audit of Health facilities. On software installed in the facilities two years ago had very low completion of this exercise, the Ministry of Health and Enabel utilisation levels. will decide whether to move forward with the approval of the In the selected hospitals of Kilembe Mines (Rwenzori) and SPHU grant agreement for the respective District Councils. Kuluva Hospital (West Nile), the project undertook counter- verification and mentorship on data quality between 18th and 24th While the process of the software development and technical November 2018. testing has been finalized, the review process of the system is still underway with different stakeholders making sure that the system respects a principle of sustainability. Regarding this aspect, an important element suggested is the development of costed needs assessment of the required hardware ICT infrastructure for selected health facilities. Parting shots from the PNFP project The project undertook additional TOT training for online systems in Moyo and Kasese districts during the quarter as a pilot for the e-verification. This will eventually roll-out to areas with high numbers of supported facilities. The year has been wrapped up with the same training in Kyenjojo District which run from 10th t0 14th December 2018 and has been received with anticipation of the much awaited digitalisation of verification. Laboratory technician at St Josephs Maracha Hospital at work. Photo by Rachael Ayebale The Diocesan Health Assembly was supported during the quarter by the PNFP project; the assembly is aimed at enhancing pro- gress and performance in the UCMB health facilities with special focus being on quality and health service delivery. The Uganda Moslem Medical Bureau (UMMB) and Uganda Orthodox Medical Bureau (UOMB) were equally supported to carry out support supervisions to the respective facilities in the health sector. The project continually supported Joint field monitoring visits in the two regions spearheaded by Ministry of Health personnel. This followed the Mid Term Review Assessment of the Annual Performance Report FY 2017/18. The findings will be used for evidence - based planning to support the under-performing facilities to improve. Mothers await their turn to register their new born babies at St. Joseph’s Hospital Maracha Photo by: Rachael Ayebale 3 SPHU Project Update By Dora Anek , Communications Focal Point, Enabel Health Project During the first half of 2018, the Ministry of Health and Uganda By ensuring synergy and complementing other Enabel interven- Chartered HealthNet with support from Enabel developed a tions in the health sector, the SPHU project will push forward the comprehensive health facility E-patient Information System. This programme approach which is currently implemented by the can feed into the DHIS2/HMIS system foreseen to support the ICB II and PNFP and SDHR Projects. District and health facilities in decision making and to improve data quality, collect real-time information, improve the quality of care and standardize the clinical paths at facility level. Enabel in Uganda through its health projects, introduced an electronic data management system for verification of facilities through trainings. Being spearheaded by Strategic Purchasing for Health Services of Uganda Project (SPHU), the project procured Tablets to be used by verifiers every quarter and is expected to ease and speed up the verification process of facilities. SPHU at a glance It is foreseen that the project will target central and district level institutions and will take on gaps created by closing of the two To officially close the two sister projects ICB II & PNFP Projects sister projects (ICB and PNFP) to provide support to Public and and subsequently steer the new SPHU Health project under the PNFP Health facilities. auspices of the Ministry of Health, Enabel in Uganda has brought in Mr. Dumitru Maximenco who comes in the capacity of Interna- tional Intervention C0-Manager. He brings with him expertise in management of RBF Health Interventions. At Central: In the initial stage, the project will strengthen and support the MOH to steer, manage, regulate and oversee the implementation of RBF in Uganda as foreseen in the health facilities. Subsequently, the project will support the setting up and management of the National RBF unit, located within the MoH which will execute the purchasing function on behalf of the Directorate of Planning and Development. At District Level: District Health offices and District Health Management Teams will be targeted by the project to improve planning, monitoring, evaluation and supportive supervision and to verify delivery of health services purchased by the project’s RBF mechanism in their respective districts. The health team under the SPHU project is further strengthened by Mr. Paolo Reggio d’Aci who brings to the team expertise At Health Facility Level: The project will target directly public in health financing while at the same time supporting the RBF unit in the Ministry of Health. and PNFP health centres III’s and IV’s and to a lesser degree Public and PNFP General and Regional Referral Hospitals through a complementary approach. 4 Ministry of Health Update Anti microbial resistance: Government and partners call for a multi-sectoral approach to ad- dress the challenge By Vivian Serwanjja & Abirahmi Kananathan The Hon. Minister used the conference platform to sound a Antimicrobial Resistance