SUCCESS STORIES

ACT Trainings Equip Private Sector Health Practitioners in Uganda

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Dr. Ida Ntozi is an established pediatrician with a private practice in Uganda’s capital city of Kampala, where more than 10 patients a day with malaria.  Recently, she attended a comprehensive training session developed by the Malaria Consortium, with help from PMI, for private sector health workers like herself on using artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACTs) to treat malaria. 

“The training told us the specifics of using this medication and how to administer it,” said Dr. Ntozi.  “Patients became resistant to the drugs we were using in the past, so they kept coming back again and again with the same complaints.  Now I am seeing almost 100% success rate for treatment with these ACTs.”

Dr. Ntozi’s story is a typical one in Kampala where the majority health care is provided by the private sector.  These are the very doctors and health care workers Dr. Harold Bisase, a leading Ugandan physician who helped design the ACTs training, was aiming to influence. 

“I am happy the Malaria Consortium took up the task of training private health care workers nationwide on the ACTs protocol,” says Dr. Bisase, “Private providers have been under utilized in the malaria fight, up until this time.” 

Training in the use and administration of ACTs is critical for several reasons, mostly having to do with patient behavior.  Prescriptions require two pills each morning and evening for three days straight; but patients feel normal before the complete course is done and stop taking the pills. 

“Doctors need to be trained to anticipate this response and reinforce the importance of completing the full course,” says Dr. Bisase.  

In Dr. Ntozi’s practice about 60% of her patients test positive for malaria.  “They come in with diarrhea or other symptoms that could be anything, so it is important to have an accurate diagnosis before I prescribe ACTs,” she says.

Dr. Bisase’s activism on government health committees has given him a broad understanding of the challenges and opportunities within the management of health systems.  He is passionate about promoting the best practices to health workers all over Uganda and was persuaded to travel with the Malaria Consortium’s team to remote locations to lead training sessions for rural health workers.

“I believe it is important to maintain knowledge and skills,” says Dr. Bisase, “Any provider who doesn’t know these malaria drug protocols and policies isn’t protecting the population.”