The SPEED initiative was launched in March 2015 to support policy making processes focused on universal health coverage in Uganda, with policy analysis, advice and influence. This will be done through building the capacity of academic staff in policy analysis, advice and influence; generation of evidence to support policy decisions as well as evaluating the performance of agreed policies. Unlike other initiatives where research is conducted and then disseminated to the potential users, the success of SPEED will depend on the proactive demand for evidence by policy decision makers.
To ensure that this happens, SPEED initiative held its first stakeholder consultative meeting to get guidance from key stakeholders on what the research agenda priorities for universal health coverage in Uganda will be.
Using a multi-voting approach, stakeholders were facilitated to identify what they feel are the universal health coverage research priorities for Uganda.
Top on the list was Human Resources for Health (32 votes), followed by governance and service delivery tying at 27 votes. Within human resources for health remuneration and emoluments came out as the key area of concern, while for service delivery the key area of concern is strategies for improving service delivery (results-based financing, task-shifting and efficiency). Under governance, private sector engagement was identified by most of the stakeholders as the key area of concern.
The outcome of this process was presented to health sector stakeholders at the Health Sector Strategic Plan 2015-2020 design workshop currently going on at Kabira Country Club in Kampala. A second stakeholder consultation engagement will be held to fine-tune the Universal Health Research agenda which will be spearheaded by Makerere University School of Public Health and Uganda National Health Research Organisation.
The SPEED initiative is funded by the European Union.
