Progressive Health Partnership in Uganda

Progressive Health Partnership's Safe Motherhood Initiative now has a new name: the Omukazi Namagara Program.  Literally translated from Runyankore (the language spoken in Southwestern Uganda) as "the woman is life", Omukazi Namagara not only illustrates the key role of a woman in the life of a family, community, and society but also illustrates the woman's ability to give life by fostering the growth of a baby.

PHP developed the new program title to better capture the purpose and components of the program.  In recent months, PHP has created a significant postnatal emphasis within the program, which accompanies the program's already strong antenatal emphasis.  Now the Omukazi Namagara Program will not only focus on taking steps during pregnancy to promote women's health but will also focus on taking steps after birth to ensure the continued health of the woman as well as the health of her baby.

PHP is also excited to report that it has hired two new Ugandan staff members to work on the program: Angella and Alex.  Both Angella and Alex come to the team with computer science backgrounds, making a substantial contribution to the technical capabilities of the program.  Angella, the assistant program coordinator, will focus on working with Village Health Team members, getting feedback from community members, and overseeing the electronic medical records system.  Alex, the data manager, will work on collecting records and data through the medical records system as well as a survey of pregnant women.  Together, Angella and Alex help demonstrate PHP's commitment to build more capacity within Uganda.

Although the start of the Omukazi Namagara Program has been delayed due to technical challenges related to the medical records system, the problems have been solved and the team is now preparing the software for real-life use.  Among other tasks, the Omukazi Namagara team is currently preparing to train Village Health Team members, strengthen the services at the local health center in Kashongi, and implement the electronic medical records system.  The team is excited for the months ahead and expresses its thanks for your continued support!

As they say in Uganda, Kurika Omwaka -- Happy New Year!

As we bring in the New Year, PHP is excited to report that the organization and its partners are gearing up for the launch of the Safe Motherhood Initiative in the coming months!  After several months of preparation work, PHP is approaching the month of March, when it hopes to begin implementing the program in its partner communities, Kashongi and Kitura Sub-Counties in southwestern Uganda.

Currently, PHP is putting the final pieces of the project into place.  First, we are excited to report that the electronic medical records system we will be establishing at the local government health center has recently been improved substantially; new features will now allow us to set up text messages that will automatically be sent to women at certain points during pregnancy to remind them of upcoming visits to the health center and to provide important educational content.  We are excited to put these innovative features to use.

In addition to the medical record system, we are working to build further capacity by expanding and training the program staff in Uganda, strengthening our collaboration with both the local and district governments, and continuing to train members of the local Village Health Team to conduct an education campaign and make follow-up visits to pregnant women in their homes.

As always, we could not do any of this without your support.  Thank you again for your generosity.  We are very much looking forward to the start of the program and will continue to keep you updated on the progress!

Links:

• Progressive Health Partnership