Beatrice and the Power of Uganda ' s Community Health Champions

By Samuel Olobo Beatrice accompanies six young mothers as they await laboratory results. Photo courtesy of Samuel Olobo.November 05, 2019Beatrice Asekenye is a 39-year-old single mother of three. She’s also a trained village health team (VHT) champion in Uganda’s Kobuku ward in Ngora Town Council and she’s making a difference in her community one mother at a time.Beatrice is part of a team of 15 VHT champions in Ngora Town Council who were trained and deployed by IntraHealth International’s USAID-fundedRegional Health Integration to Enhance Services in Eastern Uganda (RHITES-E) project to promote healthy living in their communities. RHITES-E provides VHT champions with training on maternal, neonatal, and child health, family planning, nutrition, malaria, and HIV, and supports them with tools to do their work.During home visits in their communities, VHT champions provide health education, identify health issues and refer clients to the right health facilities, and discuss key issues that affect their villages and parishes.Since the training, Beatrice has been referring and escorting pregnant women to Ngora Health Center 1V for antenatal care, family planning, and delivery as part of her day-to-day job. She’s gained the confidence to discuss health issues and is proud to help those who lack information—especially women.“Ever since I was trained, I gained more knowledge and a lot of respect in the community,” she says.&ldq...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Community Engagement Health Workers Source Type: news