{"id":5734,"date":"2021-09-28T18:30:20","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T18:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kmtraining.org\/advancing-self-care-in-uganda\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T12:48:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T12:48:40","slug":"advancing-self-care-in-uganda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kmtraining.org\/fr\/advancing-self-care-in-uganda\/","title":{"rendered":"Advancing Self-Care in Uganda"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Health care systems across the globe have always been based on a provider-to-client model. However, the introduction of new technology and products, and the increasing ease of access to information, has caused a shift in how health services can be delivered\u2014placing clients at the center of health care. Various health areas, including sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), have embraced self-care interventions. These methods increase access to and use of essential health services. This is especially important as health care systems become increasingly overburdened, coupled with the urgency to respond to individuals\u2019 and communities\u2019 SRHR needs across all life stages.<\/em><\/p>\n

This question-and-answer piece highlights the progress and benefits of advancing self-care for SRHR in Uganda, through the lens of the Self-Care Expert Group (SCEG), a technical working group in Uganda.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

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What is self-care in the context of health care, specifically SRHR? Is this a new and different concept from what individuals know and have practiced over the years?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Dinah Nakiganda, assistant commissioner for adolescent and school health at the Ministry of Health\/co-chair, Self-Care Expert Group (SCEG) in Uganda<\/strong><\/span>: Self-care in the form of individual self-awareness, self-testing, and self-management of health care is not new to Uganda; it is an age-old practice where people provide themselves with information, products, or services to maintain, preserve, and promote their health and well-being.<\/p>\n

Over the years, new products, information, technology<\/a>, and other interventions have given self-care a different application, with health areas, including SRHR, taking on the concept and practice. For instance, women could self-test for pregnancy and utilize self-injectable contraceptives, and individuals could self-test for HIV even before the global self-care guidelines were put in place.<\/p>\n

How has COVID-19 changed the overall perceptions of self-care, especially as health systems are stretched and lockdowns limit access to traditional services?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Lillian Sekabembe, deputy country representative of Population Services International, Uganda<\/u><\/strong>: The one benefit Uganda and other countries are having now is that the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing individuals to either resurrect, design, adapt, or immediately utilize solutions<\/a> with the potential to relieve the burden on the already overwhelmed and under-resourced health care system. As such, self-care interventions and their use have been amplified by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

The pandemic has availed the opportunity to appreciate the value of self-care as it has elevated and brought greater control among stakeholders. The value of self-care to improve access to and health care coverage, while reducing dependency on facility-based services and the overburdened health workforce, has been so pronounced during the pandemic and associated lockdown. More so, COVID-19 has revealed unique opportunities to advance self-care, making it more consistently available, safe, effective, affordable, and convenient to those who need it.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

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In 2019, the WHO launched the Consolidated Guidelines for Self-Care Interventions<\/a> for SRHR. Just recently, in June 2021, the WHO released revised version 2.1 of the guidelines. How is Uganda leveraging this global framework to advance self-care at the national level?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Dinah Nakiganda<\/strong>: The launch of the Consolidated Guideline for Self-Care Interventions for Health in June 2019 increased momentum for self-care globally. For Uganda, the introduction of the guideline kick-started the process of structuring self-care and introducing it within the existing health care system. The onset of COVID-19 added urgency to self-care approaches to take pressure off the health care system and facilities to improve access to essential SRHR services.<\/p>\n

Uganda adopted a two-pronged approach for developing the self-care guideline. First, the guideline document development itself, and second, the integration of the guideline into the existing health system, also referred to as the implementation of the guideline. The first stage of this process was successfully completed, and the SCEG is in the process of test implementing the draft guideline. The purpose of implementing the guideline is to optimize opportunities for self-care uptake within the existing health care system. The lessons learned can then be applied to finalize and launch the National Guideline for Self-Care Interventions for SRHR. Six task-force teams, namely Quality of Care (QoC), Social Behavioral Chance (SBC), Finance, Human Resources, Medicines and Supplies, and Monitoring Evaluation Adaptation & Learning (MEA&L), have been formulated to facilitate seamless integration of self-care within the existing health system.<\/p>\n

What are some of the self-care interventions for SRHR that have been proposed\/focused on for scale-up in Uganda? Which of these interventions already have stakeholder and\/or public support?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Moses Muwonge, executive director of SAMASHA Medical Foundation<\/strong><\/u>: While the WHO Consolidated Guideline for Self-Care Interventions for Health published in June 2019 enlists five key recommendations with various self-care interventions to be considered for scale-up, the National Guideline for Self-Care Interventions for SRHR [in Uganda] highlights four of these recommendations and respective interventions, which include: Antenatal Care, Family Planning, Post-Abortion Care, and STIs. Stakeholders in Uganda are prioritizing the contextualization of guidance for self-care interventions for the SRHR health area as a blueprint for other health areas.<\/p>\n

Considering the practice of self-care is with or without the support of a health provider, how can some of the critical components of health care such as quality of care, proper and effective use, continuity of care, be ensured?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Moses Muwonge<\/strong>: For self-care to thrive, there must be an enabling environment, quality products, and interventions available outside of formal health systems. Ensuring quality in self-care is critical, thus the WHO conceptual framework facilitates thinking around the complexities of promoting quality self-care. The quality-of-care framework for self-care, which is hinged on five pillars namely, technical competence, client safety, information exchange, inter-person connection and choice, and continuity of care, was integrated within the National Self-Care Guideline for Self-Care Interventions for SRHR [for Uganda].<\/p>\n

Professor Fredrick Edward Makumbi, deputy dean at the Makerere School of Public Health (MaKSPH)<\/strong><\/u>: There are some essential practical strategies for ensuring quality self-care, such as:<\/p>\n