Programs

Health Rights Leadership Programs:

Through AGHA’s Health Rights Leadership Program, AGHA conducts health and human rights trainings in Mbarara, Tororo, Rakai and Kampala, targeting health professionals, civil society organizations and human rights activists.

It has also established student chapters in Gulu, Mbarara and Makerere Universities as well as Mulago nursing and paramedical schools. Through human rights training and advocacy, the Students for Equity in Health Care chapters (SEHC) have raised awareness about AIDS and human rights on campus, urged the government to support health workers country wide to be able to bring the best care to their patients, and advocated successfully for the provision and availability of Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) to all patients and providers at Mulago and Hepatitis B vaccine to all medical students in Makerere Medical School. 

Utlizing the deeper understanding of health as a human right gained through these trainings, health professionals from across Uganda have since written advocacy letters to the Social Services Committee of Parliament and Speaker of Parliament to demand for improved conditions in health centers and hospitals, availability of ARVS, and increased human resources, as human rights that the country’s people deserve. 

Because of AGHA’s unique engagement with health professionals, and its membership to the International Federation of Health and Human Rights organizations (IFHHRO), AGHA is hosting the Africa Regional Focal Office for IFHHRO. As the Regional Focal Office, AGHA convenes health professionals and their associations in Africa to monitor the right to health. This year, a week long training on “Monitoring the Right to Health and the Role of Health Professionals” was organized and attended by over 30 participants from various African Countries. With Ugandan health professionals actively on board, the right to health will be progressively realized and enjoyed by all Ugandans. 

Current Activities (2007-2008)

1.Health and Human Rights Trainings:

AGHA will continue its health and human rights training work by:

Working with District Health Offices and local Anti Stigma and Discrimination Task Forces to educate more health workers on health and human rights, with a focus on looking at discrimination as a hindrance to access to health care services and a denial of the right to health.

Lobbying for inclusion of stigma and discrimination courses as a part of Continued Medical Education for all health workers 

Advocating for inclusion of Human Rights as part of the Undergraduate Medical Students at universities in Uganda. AGHA will continue to engage the heads of various training institutions and curriculum development committees with the aim of introducing a human rights component within medical training  

2. Students for Equity in Health Care (SEHC)

AGHA will continue to work closely with the Students for Equity in Health Care (SEHC) chapters throughout the country to build the next generation of health rights leadership.  This year, AGHA will conduct health and human rights and advocacy trainings at the various chapters.  AGHA will also work with SEHC to launch their new “Students’ Handbook on Stigma and Discrimination” and will hold stigma and discrimination trainings with SEHC as part of the launch of this new resource. At least three Weeks of Action will be held in Gulu, Mbarara, and Makerere universities, as well as paramedical and nursing schools in Mulago. Each chapter will also run their own trainings and actions throughout the year, and come together in 2008 for the third national annual AIDS and Human Rights Advocacy Conference to discuss urgent issues and network to make change. 

3. Voice for Health Rights (VHR) Leadership 

In June 2007, Voice for Health Rights (VHR) a coalition of organizations promoting health from a Human Rights Based Approach was born. VHR, of which AGHA is a member together with 11 other organizations, works towards improved health service delivery with a vision of ensuring that all people of Uganda attain and enjoy the highest attainable standard of health.   

VHR’s mission is to ensure the attainment of the right to health for all through capacity building, advocacy, monitoring and accountability for quality health care service provision.  The objectives of their work include ensuring a rights-based approach to health care for all Ugandans, advocating for health policy and legislation that upholds the right to health, strengthening skills and competencies of service providers and consumers for the right to health and identifying gaps and strengths in health service delivery in Uganda through research. By creating an avenue for a unified CSO voice to be heard on issues of national concern, the specific needs of VHR’s individual member constituencies will be met.   

From the onset, VHR members agreed to address specific thematic areas such as policy advocacy, community participation, public accountability, non-discrimination/ equal opportunities in health service delivery, community capacity building, research, neglected diseases, health financing, and patents and public health 

So far, VHR’s unique strategy includes:

• Representation on the Health Policy Advisory Committee (HPAC), which is the overall supervisory body responsible for ensuring that the Health Sector Strategic Plan II is implemented consistent with the PEAP and MDGs. VHR’s representation on the HPAC will enable CSOs to freely and meaningfully participate in critical health policy decision making processes.

• A platform for common voice for its members to articulate their health concerns, and as a loud mouth piece for health rights advocates articulating crosscutting issues.

• CSO capacity building through creating opportunities for its members to exchange ideas and share experiences in health rights advocacy i.e. improving the skills and capacity of its members and ultimately their constituencies.

• Research and documentation by serving as a clearing house for health related information, Researches conducted on health service delivery in Uganda, MoH reports e.g. HSSP Report and Health policies. VHR members will be able to easily access literature to inform their advocacy actions.

• Monitoring of health service delivery by ensuring that government officials are accountable (Financially and management) and creating a center for public to report their health related grievances- self policing.