Health
Uganda’s Ministry of Health Embraces Family Planning Data, PMA Data to Influence Policy
Kampala, Uganda, Feb. 16, 2022 (MakSPH) – Commissioners at Ministry of Health in Uganda have applauded the Performance Monitory for Action -PMA Uganda project for its robust research in family planning.
Dr. Olaro Charles, the Director Health Services- Curative Services at the Ministry of Health says the Ministry is grateful for the work that PMA does, citing that it would cost government a lot of money since such work would require a consultant to do it.
“The data collected in this PMA survey inform monitoring and assessment, assessing the progress of the targets as we set in the Family Planning 2030 commitments and the costed implementation plan. I am happy that all of you were involved during the formulation and official launch of these commitments,” Dr. Olaro said at a recent dissemination of panel survey results for phase 2 at Golden Tulip Hotel in Kampala.
PMA Uganda, a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded project at Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH), a leading public health institution in Uganda and within the East and Central Africa region uses innovative mobile technology to support low-cost, rapid-turnaround surveys monitoring key health and development indicators.
Between September and November last year, MakSPH-PMA project led by Principal Investigator Dr. Fredrick Makumbi and Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Simon Peter Kibira conducted a survey from 4,399 households where 4,346 females of ages 15-49 were interviewed. Also, data was collected in 384 health facilities and 2,370 client-exit interviews conducted.
According to the results, the trends in use of Contraception among all women of age 15-49 increased from 35% in 2020 to 40% in 2021 in all methods. On further analysis, those using modern methods of contraception increased from 29.5% to 34% while those using traditional methods of birth control rose slightly from 5.5% in 2021 to 5.9%.
“I am also happy to mention that I sit in the FP20 global committee, and as you know this is great not only for our country but as well as the region. From the first PMA survey, we were seeing the country making progress, however slow it is towards increasing modern contraceptive usage. As you all know the FP2030 objectives were launched and we need to be able to work. I will soon share with you the considerable plan, which is also a precursor for us to be able to achieve our Family Planning 2020,” said Dr. Olaro.
The Government of Uganda set an ambitious goal to increase the modern contraceptive prevalence rate to 50% by 2020. This however was not achieved. In acknowledging this, Dr. Olaro notes that there are still unsolved challenges with the quality of family planning services especially the counselling of users.
“If you go to back to our commitments, one of them is purposed to address this challenge. To address family planning misconceptions, government committed to improve counselling and in it, we provide what options are available, possible side effects and how we manage them, and how the users pick on a different component. So, with implementation and measurements, we shall be able to overcome the challenge,” says Dr. Olaro.
Hons. Catherine Namuddu, Sylivia Bahireira, Joel Ssebikaali, Charles Ayume, Hope Nakazibwe, Ronald Bagaga and Bayiga Rulume, all Members of the Health Committee of Parliament attended the dissemination.
Professor of Disease Control, Researcher, Public Health Expert and Dean, MakSPH, Dr. Rhoda Wanyenze says a lot of the work that done at MakSPH is geared towards ensuring equity and through evidence. According to Prof. Wanyenze, PMA program is one of the projects at MakSPH where researchers generate evidence and continue facilitating policy formulation.
“This program shows this because on the data we have generated, has to be used by all these stake holders here with us today. For example, we have just used the PMA data to inform Uganda’s FP2030 commitments and before that we were also looking at this data while implementing the costed development plan,” she said.
Speaking to an audience that had legislators under the umbrella of the Health Committee of Parliament, Professor Wanyenze said improving health requires holistic approach that includes several other sectors of development including education. She also appealed to the legislators and the sector planners to re-orient health by investing more in promotion of health and prevention of disease than focus only at treating people.
“We can also generate more evidence. You can tell us where it is that you need more evidence that you do not have so that we can work together to generate evidence. We are available and ready to work with you so you can make more evidence-based interventions,” she said.
In light of the Makerere University centenary celebrations, Dean Rhoda pledged continued generation of evidence that adds value.
Dr. Olaro paid emphasis on need for concerted efforts of Ministry of Health an its partners required to solve family planning challenges.
“We need to develop and adopt the use of innovative strategies to inform programming in an effort to address some, if not most of these challenges and I want to implore you to implement what works based on the findings,” Dr. Olaro said.
Further adding that; “These statistics that guide in programming should be progressively pursued and we are looking forward to continue good working relationships as we strive for better health of our communities in which we serve and live.”
Dr. Richard Mugahi Adyeeri, the Assistant Commissioner in charge of Reproductive and Infant Health said MoH appreciates Dean Rhoda’s comments especially the call for evidenced based Interventions and the ability of the ivory tower, to keep producing this evidence whenever it is needed.
“We also appreciate your comment about the partnership with education, given the fact that the determinants of health, some of them fall in education, others are housed in agriculture, and we need a total rethink of our post pandemic public health interventions,” Dr. Mugahi observes.
The Head of surveys at Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) Mr James Muwonge, while representing the Executive Director Dr. Chris Ndatira Mukiza congratulated MakSPH for pulling off this national survey and for having consistent data.
He encouraged research entities to continuously share information and best practices, as well as coordinate research efforts across different agencies. He also committed on behalf of UBOS to continue working together with MakSPH.
“The Dean has talked about the need to utilise information. There is a lot of information that is collected, but probably not much is being used but looking at the audience in here, I am encouraged and feel contented that the information is getting as far as the parliament because it influences policy and the fact that within the audience we have the policy makers, to me it is a testimony and really important,” said Muwonge.
National Population Council (NPC) Director General, Dr. Jotham Musinguzi said they advised Parliament on the need to invest in the population, reduce fertility in this country, and investments in education as a means to reduction of fertility.
NPC was established by the National Population Council, Act 485, 1994, to advise Government on all population matters. Dr. Musinguzi observes that if we do not reduce fertility fast enough, we will not be able to benefit from the demographic dividend.
“We have an opportunity now that Fredrick (Makumbi) and Simon (Kibira) have shown us that we can impact on contraceptive work, we can push it firmly, we need to make sure that education, health are working together so that the population moves from a pyramid that is very heavy at the bottom, to a pyramid that has a lot of people in the middle and these people get education, health and have skills,” he said.
In the last decade, Dr. Musinguzi says Uganda has been reducing on mortality and fertility rates citing that that’s when the country enters the realm of opportunity.
“I want say that this is something very important and we need to continue leaning to reproductive health and family planning especially use of contraceptives and through working with the Ministry of Health and other development partners. That is the only way we are going to achieve big impact on health, education of the population,” he said.
Dr. Betty Kyadondo, the head of Family Health Department at NPC noted that while there was an increase in the uptake of family planning services and that modern contraceptives, the country still needed to do more.
She says great attention to the issues of use of contraceptive by certain groups such as adolescents and men, that are largely under looked and misrepresented is important.
“They don’t get adequate counselling in times they need the service but we are seeing an increasing number of teenage pregnancy rates and if we don’t work with these young people, its risky and sensitive issue and many people are shy to talk about it but its high time we faced it and addressed sexually active adolescents about the use of family planning methods,” Dr. Kyadondo says.
She advances the need to leverage on the existing efforts in improving family planning service delivery such as human capital development program, community mobilisation and mindset change to reduce negativity and misconceptions about family planning, utilization of the parish development model through its pillars as well as integration of integrate technology into our family planning agenda.
At a ceremony held on 30th May 2025, themed ‘They taught us without saying a word’, the Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MakCHS) commemorated the silent teacher which are the cadavers (bodies) used in anatomy classes for medical students. In addition to a commemoration service, the event was used to create awareness and sensitise the public about the the importance of whole body donation.
The chief guest at the commemoration was Professor Mukadasi Buyinza, Deputy Vice Chancellor – Academic Affairs representing the Vice Chancellor, Professor Barnabas Nawangwe. The event attended by MakCHS students, staff and alumni was organised by students under Anatomy Society of MakCHS supported by Department of Anatomy and MakCHS leadership.
Welcoming guests to the event, Waziwu Mordecai–final year student of medicine and surgery who serves as President of the Anatomy Society, MakCHS explained that the reason for the gathering is three-pronged: to commemorate the silent teachers who make a profound contribution to medical education; to instill knowledge, compassion, and professionalism in future healthcare providers; and call on the community to support this noble act through awareness, advocacy, or future donation. ‘May the memory of our silent teachers live on in every life we will one day save’, he said.
The Anatomy society was founded in 2013 with aim of students providing peer mentorship to fellow students in lower years, such mentorship sessions help students appreciate better the anatomy of the human body. The society has supported:enhanced learning and mentorship; promoted academic participation including internal and external quizzes; and fostered connections including strengthen relationships between students across classes and with alumni.
Professor Elisa Mwaka, Head – Department of Human Anatomy welcomed all present for attending the ceremony. He thanked the College management led by the Principal, Professor Bruce Kirenga for the support provided in organizing the ceremony. He also expressed utmost appreciation to the Vice Chancellor for attending despite the competing priorities requiring his attention.
Professor Mwaka highlighted that we are here today, to pay our respect to the individuals whose bodies have been used for medical examination and research at MakCHS through offering prayers as well as sensitize people about willful/consented whole body donation.
Professor Mwaka explained that globally, sources of whole bodies for medical education and research are got through willed whole-body donation, unclaimed bodies in hospitals, imported bodies, executed persons among other means. In Uganda, unclaimed bodies in hospitals are used for medical as determined by the Uganda National Rules in the Penal Code Act of 1957.
In 2012 International Federation of Anatomy Associations (IFAA) recommended voluntary donation as the desirable and the only acceptable source for acquiring bodies. Almost all Africa countries and some European countries lack national body donation programs.
Speaking at the event, Professor Bruce Kirenga, Principal – MakCHS thanked Professor Mwaka for the insightful presentation. He welcomed Professor Buyinza to MakCHS and for accepting to attend despite the late invitation. He recognized the presence of the staff present and support towards the college activities.
Professor Kirenga underlined the importance of biomedical science under which human anatomy falls in medical education. ‘Biomedical sciences play a key role, once someone in grounded in the area, then he will be a good doctor’, he said.
The Principal also stressed that during his term of office operation efficiency will remain key ingredient for service delivery as well as rebuilding and rehabilitation of teaching and learning facilities. ‘Works to make the Biochemistry laboratory a model lab has commenced with a contract awarded to service provider; the refurbishment will be in phases’.
Professor Buyinza Mukadasi thanked the College, Human Anatomy department and the students for organizing the commemoration. ‘The amount of joy I have this morning, we should have done this a long time ago’, he said.
He expressed happiness at this commemoration for the silent teachers who unknowingly give so much to medical education and therefore mankind. He advised that community engagement to create awareness about the need for whole-body donation, regulatory compliance, and alignment to best practices.
He noted that disciplines like medicine is more like charity because medical practitioners give so much of themselves. ‘The number of people attending this ceremony is show of love for the discipline and commitment to the calling’ he said.
Professor Buyinza reiterated the commitment of Makerere University management to support MakCHS endeavours including this culture of commemorating the silent teacher. ‘Well-trained and season doctors are a result of the process explained here and the absence of bodies affects the quality of education provided and therefore the doctors produced’, he added.
Candles for the cadavers were lit and services representative of Anglican, Catholics and Muslims were conducted to remember the souls of the departed and wish them a peaceful rest. Ordinand Cosmas Ddembe for Anglican, Father Valentine Amuneke for Catholic and Dr. Haruna Kiryowa for Muslim preached the importance of respect for the dead and sacrifices of the dead for advancement of research and education in the medical field and health services.
Giving closing remarks, Professor Mwaka noted that setting up whole-body donation programs in Africa requires a holistic approach involving education, cultural sensitivity, legal structures, and partnerships with medical institutions.
Reasons why Africa has failed to establish body donation programs:
- Low awareness and willingness to donate bodies.
- Cultural and traditional beliefs
- Religious beliefs
- Fear of mishanding bodies
- Lack of legislation/ ambiguous regulations
- Lack of institutional policies and standard operating procedures
- Institutions should be encouraged to hold Services of thanksgiving or commemoration for those who have donated their bodies for medical education and research.
The following is required to change the current status:
- Cultural sensitivity and awareness
- Community engagement and awareness creation
- Educational campaigns
- Developing legal and ethical frameworks
- Building partnerships between hospitals and medical institutions
- Establishing local body donation systems i.e.,
- donation registration process,
- consent documentation,
- Logistical infrastructure necessary for the
- donation process.
- Effective communication, public trust,transparency.
- Training and professional development of healthcare providers.
- Global collaboration and funding: to share knowledge, best practices, and resources.
- Government support
- Funding and incentives
- Inclusion of body donation in national health strategies.
In a decisive step toward ending HIV as a public health threat by 2030, Uganda on Thursday, May 29, 2025, officially launched the third Uganda Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (UPHIA 2025) survey, a nationally representative household study expected to provide updated measurements on the status of the HIV epidemic by the end of the year.
The effort is led by Uganda’s Ministry of Health (MoH), with technical assistance from Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH), Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC), funded by the U.S. government through PEPFAR.
The Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (PHIA) surveys were first launched in 2014 as a global initiative at the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (ICAP), based at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Supported by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), through the U.S. CDC, the surveys have been conducted in at least 15 high-burden countries globally, including Uganda.
Led by national Ministries of Health, the PHIA surveys provide robust, population-level data on HIV prevalence, incidence, and viral suppression, offering a clear picture of epidemic trends and the effectiveness of national responses. They are designed to track progress, identify persistent gaps, and inform strategies to reach epidemic control, in line with global targets, including the fast-approaching goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
In Uganda, this survey was first rolled out between August 2016 and March 2017. The second followed in February 2020 but was disrupted by the COVID-19 outbreak, continuing through to March 2021. Both rounds were supported by ICAP at Columbia University, which provided technical assistance to strengthen data collection systems, improve laboratory infrastructure, and build national capacity to design, implement, and analyse the two national HIV surveys.
What sets UPHIA 2025 apart is the shift in technical leadership to Ugandan institutions for this third survey, reflecting local capacity to lead rigorous, high-quality public health research. For UPHIA 2025, Makerere University School of Public Health, in partnership with the Uganda Bureau of Statistics and the Uganda Virus Research Institute, is providing technical leadership to the Ministry of Health, alongside U.S. CDC. Implementation began with initial recruitment and training of over 300 field teams that begun on May 19, 2025, ahead of their nationwide deployment for data collection starting this June.
The first survey (UPHIA 2016) was an important milestone in informing Uganda’s national HIV response. This survey, concluded in 2017, measured, among things, the viral load suppression at the population level and provided household-based HIV testing and counselling, with results returned to participants and those who tested positive referred to care. The survey also assessed HIV incidence, HIV and syphilis prevalence, as well as hepatitis B infection rates. These findings would offer nationally representative data to track Uganda’s progress in controlling the HIV epidemic at both national and regional levels.
The next survey, UPHIA 2020, building on past success, was again executed with technical leadership from Columbia University’s ICAP, working with Uganda’s Ministry of Health alongside UVRI, UBOS, regional referral hospitals, local governments, and the U.S. CDC. It offered useful insights that showed encouraging progress, indicating that up to 88% of people living with HIV in Uganda at the time knew their status, 98% of them were on treatment, and 90% had achieved viral suppression. These results reflected momentum toward the UNAIDS global 95-95-95 targets, ensuring that most people living with HIV are diagnosed, treated, and have the virus under control, and advancing the broader goal of ending the epidemic by 2030.
Since the release of these findings nearly five years ago, which helped shape national HIV programming in Uganda, the country has made notable progress, but challenges remain. The UPHIA 2020 findings reported major gaps in testing coverage, particularly among young people and men. The results were also instrumental in identifying service delivery shortfalls and guiding decisions on resource allocation, program design, and policy. Yet today, Uganda remains one of the most heavily burdened countries in the world, with over 1.5 million people living with HIV and over 50,000 preventable new infections recorded per year.
It is this trend that Uganda’s Ministry of Health is working urgently to reverse. Launching UPHIA 2025 at the Ministry’s headquarters in Kampala on May 29, 2025, amidst great hope and expectation among the participants, Uganda’s Minister of Health, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero, noted that the long-anticipated and previously delayed survey had arrived at such a critical moment. She welcomed UPHIA 2025 as both a measure of the country’s resilience and a guide for the final stretch toward ending AIDS by 2030, now just a few years away.
“The UPHIA 2025 survey comes at a strategic time to help us recalibrate and refocus our efforts,” the Health Minister said, underscoring the importance of its outcomes. “This will be Uganda’s final population-based HIV survey before 2030, the target year for ending AIDS as a public health threat. The findings will serve as a baseline for tracking our progress toward this national and global goal. They will also guide the next phase of strategic planning, ensuring that the final push toward 2030 is grounded in robust and reliable data.”
This third round of the survey will be carried out in 6,685 randomly selected households across the country. The exercise will involve interviews with approximately 15,000 individuals aged at least 15 and selected through a national household listing by UBOS. Of those, around 14,980 are expected to provide blood samples for HIV testing and analysis of viral suppression and other health indicators. The survey will also include interviews with 1,300 children and adolescents aged 10 to 14, though no blood draws will be taken from this group. Participation is voluntary, free of charge, and requires consent from the head of each household.
Dr. Aceng explained that beyond providing updated estimates of HIV prevalence, incidence, and viral load suppression, and examining regional and demographic disparities, the survey, which will cover the rest of the year, will include a qualitative post-survey assessment component to gather insights from people living with HIV, particularly those not virally suppressed, to understand their challenges and strengthen support services. Also, for the first time, this survey will assess the burden of non-communicable diseases among people living with HIV and include focused interviews with adolescents aged 10 to 14 in Mid-North and Mid-Eastern Uganda, where viral suppression was reported to be lowest in UPHIA 2020.
These activities are made possible thanks to the development support from the U.S. government, which invested $10 million (about UGX 37 billion) for this survey. Speaking at the UPHIA 2025 launch, U.S. Ambassador to Uganda William W. Popp noted that the United States has partnered with Uganda for over three decades to help people live longer, healthier lives;
“The bulk of our annual support, approximately $500 million this year, is dedicated to health programs, making the U.S. government the largest single provider of health assistance to Uganda,” the Ambassador said. He added, “Through PEPFAR, the United States has played a major role in Uganda’s progress toward ending HIV as a public health threat. Since 2003, when Uganda became one of the first countries to implement the program, we have invested nearly three billion dollars—almost 11 trillion Uganda shillings—in HIV prevention, care, and treatment services, saving millions of lives and making both our countries safer from HIV.”
With the benefit of hindsight, Uganda’s early encounter with HIV in the 1980s marked the beginning of one of the region’s most severe epidemics. But over the decades, a determined national response, driven by political leadership, community mobilisation, collaboration and global support, has delivered measurable progress. In the recent past, adult HIV prevalence fell from 7.2% in 2010 to 5.1% in 2023. Among women, it declined from 8.5% to 6.6%, and among men from 5.8% to 3.6%. AIDS-related deaths dropped from 53,000 to 20,000 over the same period, with female mortality declining by 66% and child deaths by 77%.
All these gains, amidst the challenge, go to show what is possible with sustained commitment. What is more, throughout this long journey of Uganda’s battle with eradicating HIV, Makerere University School of Public Health has played a pivotal role. From the early work of Prof. David Serwadda, whose ground-breaking research during the initial detection of HIV helped shape Uganda’s early response, to last year’s 2024 landmark Purpose 1 study on the twice-yearly injectable Lenacapavir that proved 100% efficacy in preventing HIV infection, MakSPH has remained at the forefront of innovation, evidence generation, and policy influence.
That legacy continues today, with the School providing technical leadership to the Ministry of Health in the implementation of UPHIA 2025. At the launch, MakSPH Dean Prof. Rhoda Wanyenze expressed pride in the School’s role as a trusted partner in Uganda’s fight against HIV and other public health challenges. She noted that for over 70 years, during which the School has existed, MakSPH has helped shape the country’s public health landscape through rigorous research, training, and policy support, anchored by a strong, long-standing partnership with the Ministry of Health and partners.
She also noted that the collaboration between Makerere University and the U.S. CDC has helped build national capacity in surveillance and epidemiology, while also strengthening Uganda’s ability to lead high-quality, large-scale national surveys, asserting that:
“The partnership between Makerere University and CDC has not only helped build national capacity in surveillance and epidemiology, but has also strengthened our ability to lead high-quality, large-scale national surveys. After two decades of joint work, we are proud that UPHIA 2024–2025 is now a fully Ugandan-led effort. This is critical to the sustainability of the skills and knowledge generation to inform our local response.”
The survey builds on MakSPH’s experience conducting similar national studies, including those on tuberculosis, prison health, family planning, schistosomiasis, and non-communicable diseases such as the STEPS survey. It will leverage the School’s strong capacity in research and impact evaluation, both in Uganda and across the African region, with a firm commitment to delivering high-quality data guided by the same rigour and integrity that have defined our work over the years, Prof. Wanyenze affirmed.
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