In Eastern Uganda, One District ’s COVID-19 Vaccination Preparedness and Response Strategies Exceeded Expectations

By Irene Mirembe, Knowledge management manager, IntraHealth InternationalOctober 24, 2022Uganda is working hard to prevent COVID-19 by encouraging its citizens to get vaccinated. Today, the country’s cumulative positive cases areover 170,000, including 3,600+ deaths and over 100,000 recoveries. While Uganda has sustained a low COVID-19 transmission rate at 2%, not all of its eligible population is fully vaccinated, and the Ministry of Health is trying to change that.One district in Uganda, the Bududa District, took advantage of Uganda’s vaccination efforts to make sure its key populations received jabs, achieving a 100% vaccine coverage rate for the first dose and a 98% full dose rate by June 2022.Bududa District is situated in the Bukedi region of Uganda and has a population of 270,000. It’s considered a hard-to-reach area due to its poor terrain and multiple landslides that affect both lives and livelihoods. Because of this, the district struggles to provide easy access to health services. As a result, the district has a 26% teenage pregnancy rate, low uptake of modern contraceptives (14%), poor client attendance for antenatal care visits, and low male involvement in family planning decisions. Additionally, many expectant mothers prefer to deliver at home instead of in a health facility. The COVID-19 pandemic has further burdened the already struggling health system.Like the rest of the country, the Bududa District embraced vaccination efforts and i...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Infectious Diseases COVID-19 Community Health Health Workers Source Type: news