Fistula Care/EngenderHealth Uganda donated 80 delivery kits, 12 cesarean section kits, and six fistula repair kits to Uganda’s Ministry of Health (MOH) at a ceremony held on July 22, 2010. The Minister of State for Primary Health Care, James Kakooza, presided over the ceremony and expressed gratitude for EngenderHealth’s ongoing work on fistula treatment and prevention services. The Ministry of Health’s Assistant Commissioners for Primary Health Care Services, Clinical Services, and Reproductive Health, the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Health, and the District Health Officials for Kasese and Masaka districts were also in attendance. The ceremony coincided with the opening of the African Union Summit, the theme of which was improving maternal, infant, and child health in Africa.
The kits will be distributed to government health facilities in Masaka and Kasese districts that are in need of supplies, as part of the MOH’s and EngenderHealth’s ongoing efforts to prevent and treat obstetric fistula in Uganda, which is estimated to affect 2.6% of women of reproductive age. Fistula Care’s work in Uganda is focused on fistula treatment and prevention, primarily by improving the availability of safe delivery services and quality emergency obstetric care, such as cesarean sections. A large proportion of health facilities in Uganda lack the basic supplies required for provision of these services. The distribution of these kits is expected to improve delivery outcomes and contribute to the prevention and treatment of obstetric fistula for women in Uganda.