Uganda urged to tackle family planning bottlenecks to transform health outcomes

Today, World Health Organization (WHO) joined Uganda’s Ministry of Health and other stakeholders to disseminate the Family Planning Bottleneck Analysis Report, a rapid assessment that highlights barriers hindering the scale-up of evidence-based family planning practices in Uganda.

Led by WHO, Ministry of Health, Makerere University School of Public Health, and UNFPA, the study applied the WHO global protocol adapted to Uganda’s context, ensuring locally relevant and sustainable solutions.

“Ensuring access to quality family planning services is a high-impact intervention that can address the unmet need and improve coverage as a key pillar for safe motherhood,” said Dr Joseph Okware, Director of Health Services for Governance and Regulation at the Ministry of Health.

Uganda has made commendable progress in family planning. Through the 2020 Family Planning Costed Implementation Plan II and family planning 2030 commitments, the Government has prioritized equitable access to modern contraception. As a result, the modern contraceptive prevalence rate among women of reproductive age increased from 27.3% in 2016 to 29.8% in 2022, while the unmet need for family planning declined from 28.4% to 18.5%.

Despite these gains, challenges persist. Uganda’s total fertility rate remains high at 5.2 children per woman. Teenage pregnancy continues to be a concern, with 23.5% of girls aged 15–19 having begun childbearing. Alarmingly, only 2% of mothers receive immediate postpartum family planning services.

Barriers to effective implementation and scale up of evidence-based family planning services included inadequate financing to facilitate the full scale of social behavioral change communication for family planning, health system weaknesses (constraints in supplies, human resources and service delivery) and inadequate policy regulation and guidance to facilitate task sharing and equity in service delivery.

To address these, the report recommends strengthening provider training and mentorship, improving contraceptive supply chains, integrating of social and behavior change communication indicators into the Health Management Information System, and developing comprehensive policies to support task-sharing.

“To improve family planning outcomes, we must do things differently. This means strengthening leadership, financing, commodity management, community engagement, service delivery, and data use,” said Kira Koch, the cluster lead for Universal Health Coverage at WHO Uganda.

Kira pledged WHO’s continued support to the Government of Uganda in addressing family planning coverage through technical assistance, policy review, and capacity building. These efforts are fully aligned with Uganda’s national commitments under Universal Health Coverage, Family Planning 2030, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Family Planning Bottleneck Analysis Report provides insights into the key action areas for enhancing uptake of family planning services through scale up of evidence-based practices. By addressing systemic barriers and investing in sustainable, evidence-based solutions, Uganda can accelerate its journey toward universal access to family planning. With strong leadership and continued collaboration, the country is well-positioned to transform lives and communities for generations to come.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Health Organization – Uganda.