2nd September 2026, Kampala – The Annual Joint Performance Review Meeting for Kampala Region, FY 2025/26, took place under the theme: “A Strong, Responsive and Sustainable Health System that Contributes to the 10-Fold Growth Strategy.”
Chaired by China Uganda Friendship Hospital, Naguru, the meeting brought together Kampala City Council Authority, National Referral Hospitals, Implementing Partners and other key stakeholders to review health sector performance, strengthen joint implementation and make better use of data to inform decision-making.
Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Irene Nayiga, Hospital Director, China Uganda Friendship Hospital, Naguru, described health as an investment that contributes to the wellbeing and productivity of the population.
Dr. Irene Nayiga, Director of China-Uganda Friendship Hospital, delivering her opening remarks at the engagement.“Health is not simply a social service; it is an economic investment because a healthy population is the foundation of a better quality of life,” she said.
“We want to strengthen primary health care and improve its utilisation. We must look at how we can strengthen our health system from the household and community level to health centres and hospitals across the region. Each one of us has a role to play in building a stronger, more responsive health system,” Dr. Nayiga said.
Human resources and availability of medicines remain among the challenges facing the region, with some facilities operating at only 23% staffing levels. Maintaining facility drug availability above 70% remains important to reduce stockouts and ensure that patients can access the medicine they need.
The importance of accurate data in addressing such gaps was highlighted by Dr. Ronnie Bahatungire, Ag. Commissioner Clinical Services at the Ministry. He noted that the Ministry of Health is developing a system to bring all healthcare providers, including private health facilities, on board with accurate and appropriate data collection.
“This will enable us to plan based on the actual number of people we are serving,” he said.
Dr. Bahatungire observed that gaps between the population planned for and the population actually using health services can affect the availability of medicines and other commodities.
“It is not appropriate for us to be planning for three million people when we actually are providing services for about five million people. When you underestimate the population, you also underestimate the medicines and other commodities needed, and that is how stockouts become the norm,” he said.
“Being told that medicines are out of stock may seem like a simple statement, but it means something very different when it is you or your relative who needs those medicines,” Dr. Bahatungire said.
The discussions were aligned with the Ministry of Health Service Delivery Standards 2025–2030, particularly Strategic Objectives 2 and 3, which provide a framework for strengthening the health system and improving access to quality, integrated and client-centred care.
Strategic Objective 2 focuses on strengthening health system capacity for effective service delivery and response, including client feedback mechanisms, the 5S approach which stands for Sort, Set, Shine, Standardize and Sustain that caters for patient safety practices, emergency medical services and referral systems.
Strategic Objective 3 focuses on enhancing access to and utilisation of high-quality integrated services for communicable and non-communicable diseases, with emphasis on ensuring client-centred care at all levels of the health system.
Against this background, Dr. Deo Lubowa, Assistant Commissioner Quality Care under the Standards Compliance, Accreditation and Patient Protection (SCAPP) Department at the Ministry, emphasised the importance of keeping patients at the centre of health service delivery.
“Our clients are people, and they are our patients. We must ensure that everyone who comes to our facilities receives the best possible care and experience,” he said.
“We need to embrace continuous quality improvement, using data to identify gaps, inform our decisions and improve the quality of care we provide,” Dr. Lubowa said.
As a way forward, stakeholders agreed on the need to identify the key drivers of success and examine the root causes of major performance gaps. Rather than having long lists of recommendations, the focus will be on a manageable number of clear, measurable and practical priorities.
Each action will be assigned to a specific responsibility centre with a defined timeline, while regular monitoring and timely reporting will strengthen ownership and accountability for results. Where performance falls below the agreed targets, prompt corrective action will be taken to get implementation back on track.
By Priscilla Basemera
