SPRING/Uganda exhibited and presented at the inaugural International Symposium on Community Health Workers (CHWs) in Kampala. The theme for this year’s symposium was “the contribution of community health workers towards attainment of Sustainable Development Goals.” Over 400 delegates attended the symposium from around the world and participants included donors, government representatives, researchers, and program implementers.
At the symposium, SPRING gave an oral presentation on the pilot project in Namutumba District, highlighting the use of Village Health Teams (VHTs) to deliver micronutrient powders (MNPs) to children aged 6-23 months. SPRING/Uganda supported the Ministry of Health to roll out the pilot project in Namutumba District through two arms: a health facility-based arm and a community arm. The project worked with a total of 342 community health workers across 171 villages. During the pilot, 22,234 children were reached with MNPs.
Additionally, SPRING exhibited its social and behavior change communications strategies to promote positive nutrition practices and behaviors over the years. The project displayed SPRING’s materials, such as information and education communication materials about food fortification, micronutrient powders distribution, anemia control and prevention, as well as nutrition assessment counselling and support reports and findings.
During the meeting, emphasis was placed on: ensuring adequate training, planning for motivation and remuneration, providing community health workers with essential materials needed to perform their duties, and ensuring that they are not overburdened with roles and tasks that are beyond their knowledge and skill set. These ideas were underscored at the close of the symposium, when the third Deputy Prime Minister Moses Ali urged participants to finance and streamline initiatives that aim at improving performance of community health workers.
