Browsing by Author "Murindwa, Grace"

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    Impact of Public-Private Partnerships Addressing Access to Pharmaceuticals in Low Income Countries: Uganda Pilot Study
    (Initiative on Public-Private Partnerships for Health, Global Forum for Health Research, 2003) Caines, Karen; Bataringaya, Julie; Murindwa, Grace; N’jie, Hatib
    In a vicious cycle, poverty is a major cause of health inequity in developing countries, and ill-health perpetuates poverty. Many health problems among populations disadvantaged by poverty have been neglected because of lack of commercial incentives or have proven intractable when tackled by the public sector or NGOs independently. In recent years, a number of public-private partnerships (PPPs), usually targeted on specific products, diseases or technologies, have arisen to tackle particular health problems. One group of PPPs addresses access to pharmaceuticals critical to treatment or care for diseases disproportionately or uniquely affecting the poor in developing countries. This category of partnerships for drug access is usually based around the provision of products that are donated or heavily discounted (usually a ‘sole source’). They entail a multi partner effort at field level to ensure the distribution and proper use of the medications.
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    The Ugandan Health Systems Reforms: miracle or mirage?
    (2006) Yates, Rob; Tashobya, Christine Kirunga; Ssengooba, Freddie; Murindwa, Grace; Lochoro, Peter; Bataringaya, Juliet; Nazerali, Hanif; Omaswa, Francis
    Poor health indicators in the 1990s prompted the Government of Uganda and development partners to embark, at the turn of the century, on an extensive programme of health systems reforms to improve sector performance. With only a modest increase in resources, these reforms have resulted in large increases in outputs for ambulatory services. Out-patient attendances and immunisation rates have doubled. Furthermore, the growth in consumption of these services appears to be highest for the poorest socio-economic groups. However, statistics for key in-patient services, most noticeably maternity services, remain virtually unchanged. This chapter attempts to assess the significance of these changes. Is it a miracle of improved efficiency or a mirage unlikely to lead to improved health outcomes? We try to identify the key reforms within health and across government, which may be responsible for the changes in output performance. A number of supply side reforms that have have increased the availability of essential inputs are highlighted. In addition, a major demand side policy (abolishing user fees) had a significant impact on the consumption of services. We conclude that increased utilisation of ambulatory services does signify improvements in consumer welfare and therefore health sector performance. However, stagnant maternity outputs indicate that key in-patient services are still not meeting the expectations of the population. Only reliable outcome data will resolve the debate about the significance of the changes in output indicators. Further research will also be required to disentangle the relative impact of the different components of the reforms.