On April 24-26, 2024, the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), which is the African Union agency tasked with providing technical leadership in the implementation of the ALM Declaration, convened the East African Community (EAC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS, through its West African Health Organisation (WAHO)) to review progress on implementation of ALM declaration and plan for the next two years.

The meeting, held in Accra, Ghana, provided an opportunity for the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) and the Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office (PPD-ARO) to join the regional efforts in order to link their current joint initiative, Advance Domestic Health Financing (ADHF), to these efforts. The ADHF initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, works to support country and regional efforts to increase domestic investments in health and promote efficient utilisation of health budgets, with a focus on primary healthcare (PHC), girls’ and women’s health. The ADHF initiative is currently implemented in Kenya, Malawi, Zambia and Uganda.

The ALM meeting provided opportunity for AFIDEP and PPD-ARO to cultivate critical relationships with the AUDA-NEPAD, EAC, SADC and WAHO as well as identify specific areas of collaboration. At regional level, the ADHF initiative seeks to provide the evidence needed by regional bodies to inform their actions, as well as, strengthen political commitment for the ALM implementation. In line with this focus, AFIDEP and PPD-ARO together with the representatives of the AUDA-NEPAD, EAC, SADC and WAHO, identified key evidence gaps that need to be filled in order to strengthen the regional efforts to enhance health financing. These include: assessment of new financing models for health including tax studies for the different countries, viability studies for public health insurance which address vulnerable households and the informal sector, and efficiency studies particularly addressing leakages in health financing. On advocacy for political commitment, the institutional partners agreed to leverage the various political platforms operated by PPD-ARO for ALM advocacy, including the annual forums of the Network of African Parliamentary Committees on Health (NEAPACoH), the Eastern Africa Reproductive Health Network (EARHN), the PPD Partner Country Coordinators Forums, the International Inter-ministerial Conferences and the several national advocacy events involving parliamentarians, government technical people, civil society organisations, researchers, champions and the media that PPDARO conducts.

The ALM meeting reported notable progress in the EAC and SADC regions, mainly the formation of the regional health financing hubs (RHFHs), and, the hosting of national health financing dialogues in several countries that generated multi-stakeholder commitments towards tackling health financing challenges. Although the WAHO region had not established a hub, it reported various ongoing efforts to strengthen health financing in the sub-region, and for which the ALM Declaration should build on.

The three sub-regions reported a major challenge with funding to conduct the activities to support member states’ health financing efforts. Indeed one of the key action points was for each region to boost its resource mobilisation efforts in order to be able to implement its identified actions.

We (AFIDEP and PPD-ARO) are excited about our budding partnership with the AUDA-NEPAD, EAC, SADC and WAHO on health financing, and will continue strengthening this partnership through the joint activities agreed upon on evidence generation and use, and political advocacy.

In attendance were participants from;

• Burundi
• Ethiopia
• Kenya
• Rwanda
• South Sudan
• Tanzania
• Uganda

The certificate of financial implications shows that there are funds for the implementation of the Bill once it has been passed into law and it is a requirement before any Bill is tabled in Parliament for first reading.

The National Health Insurance Bill 2007, was hatched about 13 years ago and has to date not been tabled in Parliament.

The Bill, however, if passed into law, will make it mandatory for civil servants and formally employed Ugandans to make mandatory contributions to a National Social Health Insurance (SHI) scheme.

In an interview on the sidelines of a dialogue between MPs and the Ministry of Health officials on Tuesday, Mr Rogers Enyaku, an assistant commissioner budget and finance, told Daily Monitor, that the issues that were raised by the Ministry of Finance contributing to the delay of the Bill’s implementation have been harmonised.

“The Bill was sent back to us after issues were raised on costing and sustaining the health insurance fund,” said Mr Enyaku.
He added that the Finance ministry also wanted to know the administrative value cost of the scheme to Parliament.

“We had a meeting with the Ministry of Finance and agreed to work on the response which will enrich the scheme such that we end this back and forth with the Bill,” Mr Enyaku explained.

“In three weeks, we are expected to send the Bill back to the Finance ministry to be submitted to Cabinet and later to Parliament,” Mr Enyaku said.

Dr Jotham Musinguzi, the Regional Director of Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office (PPD ARO) who organised the dialogue, said there is need to have the health insurance law before the start of the next financial year.
“The national Health Insurance scheme is key in accessing medical care and reproductive health services and products for those people who cannot afford healthcare,” Dr Musinguzi noted. He said the purpose of the meeting was to engage MPs on what is lacking since the Bill has overstayed.

Article can also be accessed on the link below:-

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Cabinet-to-discuss-Health-Bill/-/688334/2813332/-/trsm9z/-/index.html

The PMA2020 Project is a five (5) year project which aims at collecting a nationally representative sample of data from households and service delivery points in selected sentinel sites, estimating the use of modern contraception and related indicators on an annual basis, and determining the service availability of the Family planning (FP) commodities at service delivery points (SDPs).  Indicators from this project have been  used to support the Family planning Costed Implementation plan (CIP) and the Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP). All this is consistent with the National family planning conference recommendations, held in 2014.

Field work for round-2 survey was concluded in 110 enumeration areas (EAs) using an innovative mobile­ assisted Data and Dissemination System (mADDS). The findings from the current round-2 survey are now available for sharing.

The dissemination meeting was attended by over 50 participants including Parliamentarians, Ministry of Health Officials, Uganda Bureau of Statistics staff, development partners and stakeholders among others.

Related article can also be accessed at:

www.pma2020.org

It is worth noting that the OFLA, Uganda Chapter agreed to extend its mandate to include maternal and adolescent health in addition to HIV/AIDS.

The nomination of the Regional Director of PPD ARO as the Board Chair of OFLA, Uganda Chapter will create and facilitate ample advocacy opportunities for PPD ARO and its local partners to improve the health of women and girls in Uganda.

Related article can also be accessed at:

http://janetmuseveni.org/jmk_cms/index.php/press/15-newsroom/199-first-lady-inaugurates-new-board-for-oafla–uganda

In his native Uganda, Jotham Musinguzi practiced obstetrics and gynecology for 10 years, then taught at Makerere University’s medical school for another ten. He left the practice of medicine, however, deciding instead “to deal with policy issues, rather than clinical practice, because I realized clinical practice is not enough. We need to tackle policy in order to make more of a difference.”

With particular interests in reproductive health and family planning, population and development, and HIV/AIDS epidemiology, Musinguzi set out to impact policy in those areas. He has served Uganda as director of the Ministry of Finance’s Population Secretariat in Planning & Economic Development and chair of the International Council on Management of Population Programs (ICOMP), which is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Musinguzi, who was a board member and honorary treasurer of Partners in Population and Development (PPD), also served on the board of the Nairobi, Kenya-based African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC).

The father of five “has published many articles and continues to carry out research in his areas of specialization,” wrote Professor Ijuka Kabumba of Uganda’s Nkumba University. He has represented his country in various international meetings and summits of the United Nations and was extensively involved in the landmark 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo. “Currently, Jotham holds four major positions: as regional director, Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office (PPD ARO), Uganda; trustee, Commonwealth Medical Association Trust of London (COMMAT); trustee, Population Council of New York; and chair, Board of Directors, Population Services International (PSI), Uganda.”

David O. Carpenter, M.D., was dean of the University at Albany’s School of Public Health when he met Musinguzi. “Dr. Musinguzi was the very first M.P.H. graduate of the school in 1991. Trained in medicine as an obstetrician, he was recruited in the fight against HIV-AIDS in Uganda at a time when that disease was a greater problem in Uganda than in any other country. Dr. Musinguzi completed the program and returned to Uganda to continue his fight against this deadly disease there.”

As regional director of PPD, Musinguzi “expanded his leadership role on issues related to maternal and child health and family planning to all of Africa. His outstanding performance in this position, as well as his previous position with the Ugandan government, earned him the 2013 United National Population Award, presented by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at United National Headquarters on June 28, 2013,” Carpenter said.

At the London Summit on Family Planning a few years ago, Musinguzi’s work was acknowledged by Ugandan President Museveni, who pledged to increase his government’s family-planning budget from $3.3 million (Shs 7.8B) to $5 million (Shs 13B) annually for five years. The president also promised to raise an additional $5 million (Shs 13B) from donors and push for a policy environment that would allow women to exercise family-planning choices.

Read full profile: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)62721-X/fulltext

Read Lancet Paper: Jotham Musinguzi: delivering for Africa

Lancet. Vol 383 January 4, 2014

Dr. Musinguzi was selected in recognition of his outstanding work to promote the International Conference on Population and Development principle that reproductive health must be a key component of any general strategy of social and economic development. He was also commended for his central role in negotiations leading to the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals; for increasing access to and investments in family planning and advances in public policy in Uganda and throughout Africa; and for drawing the attention of the media and politicians to population concerns. His major role in the preparation of the Plan of Action on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, known as the Maputo Plan of Action was also recognized.

Mr. Ban Ki-moon said, “I applaud Dr. Jotham Musinguzi, this year’s winner in the individual category.  He has been a strong advocate for reproductive health throughout his distinguished career.  Dr. Musinguzi is respected by his peers, and his views have been heard by political leaders around the world.”

In his acceptance speech, Dr Musinguzi acknowledged the support he has received from many distinguished and respected partners, donors, foundations, governments, civil society organizations, activists, advocates, academia, and professional societies, among others. He said “I would like to use occasion to acknowledge their invaluable support and encouragement.”

Dr. Musinguzi recalled that many positive developments were taking place in reproductive health, family planning and population dynamics.  He cited the London Family Planning Summit of July 2012 hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UK government, working closely with UNFPA and USAID which was a huge success in terms fundraising from both donors and national Governments. The participation of Heads of States including Presidents Museveni of Uganda, Kagame of Rwanda, and Kikwete of Tanzania showed increased political commitment.

The 2013 UN Population Award Laureate noted that in Uganda, over 200,000 young girls and women continue to suffer from a very dehumanizing condition of Obstetric Fistula. He pointed out that only 1,300 cases get repaired every year, leaving a huge backlog unattended to. He made a personal pledge, in appreciation of the Award, to donate the Monetary Prize of the Award to an NGO in Uganda that addresses Obstetric Fistula in a comprehensive manner by addressing prevention, treatment as well as social integration of those affected.

The colourful Award ceremony was attended by Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Richard Nduhuura, representatives of UN member states, civil society, and a delegation of Dr. Musinguzi’s family including his wife, among other dignitaries.

This High Level Panel served as a platform for advocacy by governments for ensuring that the health and rights of women and girls remain top priorities now, and for decades to come.  The High Level Panel also provided a forum for highlighting success stories as well as challenges and opportunities for advancing the health and rights of women and girls. The Panel further provided an opportunity to prioritize the health and rights of women and girls in the post- 2015 development framework including their participation in socio-economic development.

The High Level Panel was moderated by Ms. Elizabeth Lule of the World Bank

Panelists included:
Hon. Dr. Kesetebirhan Admasu, Minister of Health, Ethiopia
Hon. Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate, Minister of State for Health, Nigeria
Hon. Dr. Sarah Opendi, Minister of State for Health, Uganda
Mr. Yemurai Nyoni, Zimbabwe Young People’s Network on SRH