On 4th -7th March 2019, SPEED project hosted a team of eight health practitioners from Bangladesh and one RIPSEC member from DR.Congo. The main objectives of this visit were to; 1) Learn about the ‘Policy Barometer’ developed by SPEED and how it is used to monitor progress in evidence use in health policymaking and their implementation, 2)Understand policies and program on NCD prevention and control in Uganda in the context of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), 3) Understand current Human Resources for Health (HRH) issues in the public sector in Uganda: current policies and strategies, 4)Visit field sites to understand health service delivery structures in Uganda particularly in the rural setting and lastly to explore opportunities for future collaboration between SPEED, RIPSEC and SHARE project beyond 2020.
Strengthening Health Applying Research Evidence (SHARE) project based in Bangladesh was led by Dr. A.T. M Iqbal Anwar- Scientist and Director of ‘SHARE’ project, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B). Other members included, Prof. Dr. Nasima Sultana, Additional Director General (Admin), Directorate General of Health Service, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) and Md. Ruhul Amin Talukder, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) and other representatives of the Government.
In order to strengthen the South-South collaboration, these meetings with sister projects have been encouraged by the European Union. Through this exchange, the projects learn from each.
For this particular meeting, the SHARE team basically wanted to learn about Policy Implementation Barometer. Policy Implementation Barometer (PIB) is a mechanism in which feedback is provided to the decision makers about the implementation of a selected set of policy programmes at various implementation levels (macro, meso and micro level). It further provides a framework to assess the implementation of a policy at various levels.
It is believed that upon learning how PIB works, the SHARE and RIPSEC projects will be able to monitor progress in evidence use in health policymaking and their implementation. Other activities that the team engaged in included, a field site visit to Luwero Health Centre IV. This was organised for the visiting team to understand health service delivery structures in Uganda particularly in the rural settings. Other activities done by the team includes, a courtesy meeting with the Ministry of Health officials and visit to the Dean -Makerere University School of Public Health.
Prof Elizeus Rutebemberwa presenting about Policy Implementation Barometer (PIB) developed by SPEED
Prof Freddie Ssengooba sharing a brief about SPEED project and the activities undertaken in Uganda.
In this visit, participants understood the policies and programme on prevention and control selected health problems in Uganda in the context of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and experienced how the public health workforce is mainstreamed in Uganda
Group photo taken on the last day of the visit
SHARE and RIPSEC team visiting Dean Makerere School of Public Health, Professor Rhoda Wanyenze
SHARE and RIPSEC interacting with Luwero District Officials during a field visit to the health facility.
Way forward
Uganda team and the official in the ministry of health got interested in learning how the government of Bangladesh has been achieved ‘good health at low cost’. A team from Uganda along with Government representatives look forward to looking forward to attending the Community Health Workers (CHW) Conference in Bangladesh in November 2019 organised by SHARE project. Further, the teams agreed that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed between ICDDR, B and MakSPH that will strengthen this collaboration and make it sustainable.
