UGANDA
 Malaria is the leading cause of morbidity & mortality in Uganda. An estimated 70,000 to 100,000 children under five years old die from malaria each year. Malaria accounts for 33% of all outpatient visits, 25% of all admissions at hospitals and up to 22% of low birth weight causes in newborns in highly endemic areas. In addition, malaria leads to severe economic losses, lost school days, and long-term disability. On average, an individual in Uganda has six malaria episodes per year.
In order to fight this epidemic, Voices Uganda aims to:
- Sustain resources and expand political commitment for malaria, contributing to a decrease in malaria mortality.
- Improve access to malaria control interventions by promoting appropriate resource allocation and strengthening political will for effective use of funding and resolving bottlenecks.
- Improve national government accountability for malaria resource management.
- Build on district leadership to prioritize malaria.
- Increase community engagement on key malaria resource issues.
- Improve Global Fund performance and access to GF resources
- Support the Ministry of Health and district decision makers in strengthening their commodity distribution system
- Facilitate national decision maker dialogue and provide information on key issues.
- Increase mass media support for malaria messaging
Accomplishments
Malaria's effects are even worse on children at refugee camps, like this one in Northern Uganda (Credit: Bonnie Gillespie)
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Strengthened CSO voice with statement addressing GFATM bottlenecks
- Participated in high level delegation visit with Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, Mr. Ray Chambers, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Malaria, and Dr. Tachi Yamada, President of the Global Health Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Major decisions made following the visit included:
- Voluntary Pooled Procurement option
- Net specifications
- Launched United Against Malaria in Uganda on August 21st, 2009
- As part of launch, Voices Uganda:
- Recruited a variety of champions, including footballers, Ministers, Corporate organization CEOs, among others
- Widely publicized launched and engaged extensive media
Current Activities
- Helping Global Fund advocate for rigorous implementation and accountability on the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM)
- Working with Ugandan Parliamentary groups to address key malaria issues
- Strengthening the advocacy and BCC capacity of regional and district level decision makers
- Networking with NGOs in Uganda to document success stories to highlight to decision-makers
- Educating and equipping national leaders to speak out on the importance of malaria control
- Expanding private sector partnerships through United Against Malaria to reach important targets, such as heads of household and adolescents
Audio and Video
Charles Ssali, the UAM Under-12 champion, has appeared at UAM launches and other UAM events in 2009 and 2010.
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Success Stories
Publications
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