MixedPublic Health
Weekly clinics at regional referral hospitals are the visible part of the change. The invisible part is whether the prescription written there can be filled next month.
Supply, not stigma alone
Clinicians report that treatment interruption is driven less by patients dropping out than by stock-outs of first-line medicines, which push families to private pharmacies at prices they cannot sustain.
A patient who is stable for six months and then misses two months of medication is back where we started.
Community health workers say referral works best where a named contact at the hospital answers the phone, which is a staffing question rather than a policy one.
Sources & further reading
- Mental health fact sheet - World Health Organization
- Ministry of Health Uganda - Government of Uganda
- National Medical Stores - NMS Uganda
Dr Agnes Kirabo
Public Health Correspondent, Kampala
A clinician by training, Dr Agnes Kirabo covers immunisation, essential medicines supply and the operation of Uganda's district health system.
- Immunisation programmes
- Health financing
- Essential medicines
