How to Strengthen Uganda ' s COVID-19 Response and Protect Health Services

By Catherine Shrimpton, Communications support for TDDA TDDA engages communities, such as the one in pictured in Chad, in the fight against COVID-19. Photo courtesy of the TDDA program.February 08, 2021COVID-19 infections in Uganda are rising fast. The country recorded its first case of the coronavirus in March 2020 and in the early stages of the pandemic most cases were identified at the borders among people traveling from other countries. Since then, however, the country has seen a rapid increase in community transmission and clusters of infection nationwide. As of January 20, Uganda’s Ministry of Health had recorded 38,806 cases and 316 deaths—almost certainly an underestimate of the true prevalence and impact, given the challenges of detection and reporting.The Ugandan government has worked hard to develop plans to protect its population, but implementation has been hampered by a lack of resources and expertise. The efforts required to contain COVID-19 are straining an already overstretched health system. As Uganda’s hospitals experience an influx of patients, there is an increasing risk of hospital-acquired infection and infection of health staff. Indeed, the high number of new infections is making it extremely difficult for the health system to care for both COVID and non-COVID patients, let alone execute critical activities such as case investigation, contact tracing, and laboratory testing.Given the urgent need to support COVID-19 response...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: COVID-19 Health Workforce & Systems Source Type: news