September 8, 2011
A coalition of Civil Society organizations (CSOs)where CEHURD is a member, have demanded parliament to reallocate funds in the 2011-2012 draft budget expected to be passed today afternoon, for recruitment and retention of health workers.
The CSOs have recommended a minimum total of approximately Shs75 billion to cater for the deployment of an additional 5,000 professional health workers and an increase in allowances to motivate them.
This is due to the fact that the increasing shortage of health workers like nurses and midwives at health centres II, III and IV, commonly found in rural areas has greatly contributed to the shoot-up in maternal death rates in Uganda.
According to the press statement read at the conference hosted by Action Group for Health, Human Rights and HIV/AIDS, Uganda (AGHA) on September 8, the Ministry of Health national target for this budget cycle indicates that an additional 5,000 health workers would increase staffing norms from the current 56 per cent to 65 per cent.
The statement further reads, “A report by the Social services committee of parliament recommended an initial reallocation of Shs34 billion and suggested the remaining 41 billion required, to be reallocated from non-essential spending in other sectors’ budgets.”
It however states that recent reports on the discussions of the budget committee indicate that the recommendations of the report may be disregarded, despite the fact that parliament agreed to them.
In reaction to this, the country director, International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Uganda, Mr. Leonard Okello, said, “if the pronouncement of parliament are disregarded in the Appropriations Act of 2011, then Uganda must approve a supplementary budget to correct this needless epidemic of maternal and morbidity.”
He added that, “People are suffering rural women in particular. The time for action is now.”
Mr. Okello requested government to invest in health centers II, III and IV where a bulk of rural women get health assistance, which means that they will be serving majority good and reducing overload in referral hospitals.
He appealed to the President Mr. Yoweri Museveni to respond to the matter by providing supplies, medicine and human resources required by the rural women in payment for voting him back into power since majority of his votes were from these women according to statistics.
The Advocacy and communications manager, Community Health and Information Network (CHAIN), Ms. Dorcas Armoding, said, “This crisis will not be corrected without the nurses, midwives and clinical officers, whose jobs are to save lives.” “Without this reallocation, we are gravely concerned that preventable maternal death rates will continue at a rate of 16 pregnant mothers per day.
The Executive Director, AGHA, Ms Apophia Agiresaasi, expressed her worries on Uganda still having unacceptably high maternal and infant mortality rates, which she says would be improved if there was political will to deliver on the promise of African governments in 2001 to invest at least 15 per cent of their budget in health.”
Families sue Ugandan government over women’s deaths in childbirth
The families of two women who died following obstructed labour begin an historic legal action today, in a bid to force the Ugandan government to tackle the shortages of doctors and midwives, drug stock-outs and absence of emergency transport that kill 16 women a day
The families of two women who died in childbirth are starting a legal action against the government of Uganda today, alleging that the inadequate care and facilities provided for pregnant women caused the deaths and violates their country’s constitution and women’s rights to life and health.
The case is unprecedented in Uganda. Aid agencies and medical charities and donor governments can condemn the death toll in pregnancy and childbirth, but the most powerful argument is the devastating testimony of those who suffer.
Sylvia Nalubowa died in Mityana hospital on 10 August 2009 from the complications of obstructed labour. She was carrying twins, one of whom was delivered. The second died with her. Jennifer Anguko died in Arua regional referral hospital on 10 December 2010 when her uterus finally ruptured after 15 hours of obstructed labour. Her status as a district councillor brought her no favours – she was said to be the fourth woman to die in that hospital that day.
Campaigners point out that 16 women die unnecessarily in Uganda of the complications of pregnancy and childbirth every day. In much of the country, there is little in the way of emergency obstetric care. There are shortages of doctors to carry out a caesarean to save the lives of mothers and their babies in obstructed labour and few ambulances to get the women to the theatre in time even if a doctor is available. I’ve seen it myself in Katine, in eastern Uganda – as I wrote here.
The families, who are supported by Ugandan health advocates and campaigners, argue that women in childbirth are denied the care and facilities they need. There are too few doctors, nurses and trained midwives, maternity units are ill-equipped and there are frequent drug stock-outs. And too many of the staff who are on the units treat women with abuse and contempt. This is from their petition Expectant mothers have continued to die in government hospitals under similar circumstances. Nurses and doctors solicit money out of them and other maternal health consumables and in the event that they fail to raise the money or other materials they are left unattended to which leads to their death and this violates their right to life.
I would find this hard to believe if I had not heard the same accounts from people in Katine, which I visited several times while the Guardian was sponsoring a development project there.
The petition argues that Uganda is not spending the money it promised on maternal and child health. The World Health Organisation mother and baby package, which the government agreed to implement, specifies spending of $1.40 per capita. Uganda spend just 50 cents, it says.
It is dispiriting that the legal action is needed, but for the sake of all Ugandan women, it clearly is.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/sarah-boseley-global-health/maternal-mortality-uganda
Mentorship in media reporting on intellectual property & human rights
The Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) is currently implimenting a 12 month project funded by KIOS on intellectual property and human rights. The program seeks to build the capacity of journalists from the mainstream media with interest in reporting on the ongoing reforms in intellectual property laws in Uganda and elsewhere.
CEHURD files constitutional petition NO. 16 of 2011
CEHURD was able to file the constitutional petition which seeks to secure among others a Declaration that non provision of essential maternal health commodities in a government health faculties leading to the death of these persons is an infringement on the rights to life and health. The court is set to hear the petition on 20th July 2011