On 13th January 2024, our management led by Mr. Abeselom Bahta Habtegebriel held a comprehensive meeting with over 15 Village Health Team (VHTs) members of Makindye division, Kampala for better service delievery in the community.
This is intended to broaden outreach of our medical and healthcare services to everyone with in the area of our jurisdiction.
What are Village Health Teams (VHTs)?
Village Health Teams (VHTs) are ordinary community members who receive basic health care training to provide home visits and health management services working primarily in a voluntary capacity.
These members serve as the first point of contact for various health-related issues across many communities in Uganda.
Background
Community Health Workers in Uganda work as members of Village Health Teams (VHTs). The VHTs Program was established in 2001 as a cost-effective way to link communities with health services. VHTs support the Ministry of Health (MOH) to bring health services closer to the population.
Implementation
In Uganda, each village is mandated to have four VHT members, at least two of whom provide integrated community case management (iCCM) of childhood illnesses.
Roles/responsibilities
The main role of VHTs is to mobilize communities for better health services, hence bridging the gap between communities and health facilities. Other specific roles of VHTs include: conducting home visits, managing malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia among children under five years, distributing health commodities, and conducting referrals to health facilities.
Training
By default, all VHT members must be above 18 years and able to read and write, preferably in the local language. Initial training is provided to all VHT members, with those involved in the provision of iCCM receiving additional training. Refresher trainings are conducted by the MOH and implementing partners as needed although on an irregular and non-standardized basis.
Supervision
VHTs are supposed to report to a health facility within their community where a health worker supervises them. A parish coordinator often offers support to all VHTs within a parish, and the District Health Educator is mandated to oversee the work of all VHTs in the district. However, due to limited funding and human resource capacity, supervision of VHTs is often irregular and inconsistent.
Incentives and remuneration
According to the MOH VHT strategy, VHT members are community-selected volunteers who don’t receive financial payment for their services. However, they may receive non-monetary and sometimes ad hoc monetary incentives from the MOH or from their implementing partners that work with them in communities. These incentives are not standardized and vary throughout the country, and mainly depend on the implementing partner that is supporting the VHTs.
Impact
VHTs have made a significant contribution to increasing access and utilization of health services as well as improving health outcomes in communities, including reduction of morbidity and mortality of children younger than five years of age.
Why Engage the VHTs as East Africa Medical Center?
The main reason for the meeting was to: streamline our partnership with VHTs, and inform them about our “Upcoming Medical Camp” on the 29th, 30th and 31st January.
They’re therefore supposed to kickstart mobilization within 8 days to the camp. They will further help to do the following on the following.
- Mobilizing and referring patients.
- Working with on-ground schools for extended medical services to students.
- Referring pregnant mothers in the community who need urgent antenatal care.
- Working with small clinics to refer laboratory samples and patients.
Among the services we intend to focus on most during this campaign are the following:
- Laboratory Service
- Child Vaccination
- Family planning
- Antenatal Care
- Ultrasound Service
- Pharmacy
- General Medical Care
- Minor Surgeries
By doing this, we strongly belief that will shall able to extend quality yet affordable medical and healthcare services to community members of all calibers.
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