The village health teams are trained volunteers who form part of the backbone of Uganda’s public health system. With support from World Health Organization, village health teams across Kampala and neighbouring Wakiso district have received specialized training in surveillance and community outreach to better convey safety messages. In the capital Kampala, there are more than 4000 volunteers in the various health teams. Their job is to communicate to people in their neighbourhoods about any outbreaks, how to avoid them, what signs and symptoms to look out for, and what to do if they fall ill or see people with symptoms. Community involvement is crucial to the success of preventive measures such as handwashing, wearing masks and physical distancing. To gain the trust of villagers it is important to have a village local come to distribute free cloth masks, answer questions and demonstrate correct hand hygiene. The use of village health teams to communicate information within villages will also be useful in responding to other outbreaks.
WHO thanks all donors and partners who have contributed to fund the Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to combat COVID-19. A special appreciation goes to Member States and other contributors who provided flexible funds, making it possible for WHO to deliver a coherent, strategic and broad response.
Visit the WHO / AFRO to read more about how health teams strengthen Uganda’s COVID-19 response