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The Health Ministry’s Permanent Secretary has attributed the delays and low quality of care experienced by Ugandans in public health facilities to uncontrolled population growth.

Dr Diana Atwine, while speaking at a national conference organised by leaders of the UK-funded family planning initiative (RISE programme) in Kampala on Monday, indicated that the growth of the health system is lagging behind the rapid increase in population.

“There’s a very high population rise. Every year, our deliveries alone in our facilities, we have more than 1 million babies per year. Many births also occur outside the facilities. So, that calls for a serious discussion of all players,” she said.

“This [population increase] has a good side, but also it has a big challenge because it's not productive, it is a consumptive population. And that puts us in an awkward situation, especially in health services. Because that's when you see overcrowding of mothers scampering around the facilities, to deliver. That's why we see people running out of space and even getting to floor cases. That's why even small facilities such as Health Center IIs which are not supposed to be delivering women as per standards, are providing the services because of the pressure of the population on existing facilities,” she added.

According to government data, there has been an increase in the uptake of modern contraceptives to help reduce fertility rates.

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