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ISSUE NO. - 12, SEPTEMBER 2015
Empowering Citizens to Demand for their Health Rights
​This film highlights how Uganda National Health User’s/Consumer’s Organization took an initiative to empower communities to negotiate for their health rights. 

​About the Initiative
With the support of Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA), Uganda National Health User’s/Consumer’s Organization (UNHCO) is involved in initiatives focusing upon empowerment of communities to demand and participate in improvement of health services delivery since 2008. With these initiatives, UNHCO is able to popularize the Right to Health and Patients Charter to help communities negotiate for health rights. Social Accountability is one of the core strategies of UNHCO since 2013. These initiatives have led to:
                                                 UNHCO
Conceived by a group of Ugandans, drawn from various professional disciplines who share common concerns and a vision of a health sector that provides quality health care for the mutual benefit of both providers and consumers, UNHCO is a membership NGO based in Kampala Uganda. UNHCO has been implementing programmes that advocate for a strong institutionalized platform that is able to articulate voices of consumers of health goods and services. UNHCO has championed the Rights Based Approach (RBA) to healthcare delivery and contributed to efforts to improve community participation and accountability.
To know more about the work of UNHCO click:  http://unhco.or.ug/
  • Increased citizens awareness on patients rights, obligations, responsibilities, medicines and entitlements
Communities are sensitized at village meetings, individual sensitization at village level, saving groups meetings, Boda-Boda cyclists gatherings, market gatherings, to name a few.. Community monitors sensitized community member on range of entitlements, patients rights and responsibilities,  health facilities redress mechanisms available at health facilities including suggestions boxes. Community score cards, drama presentations were held on a series of health themes besides disseminating education materials like brochures, banners, community involvement messages, and others.
  • Strengthening of demand side accountability mechanism in five districts of Uganda
Accountability mechanism existed at the community level but was dysfunctional. Strengthening mechanisms included strengthening of training management health committees, health workers, local counsellors etc. With right to health care approach and regular community monitoring health gaps were identified and the community score cards were presented by community monitors at district advocacy platforms. Suggestion boxes are installed where health service users provided feedback on the health services provided. The advocacy efforts have led to improvement in transparency as some primary health centres have starting displaying health expenditure.
  • Intensification of advocacy for legalization of Right to Health in Uganda
UNHCO has had several consultative meetings on Right to Health. These meetings culminated into the Draft Patients Rights and Responsibilities Bill that was spearheaded by UNHCO in association with Parliamentarians and civil society coalitions. The Bill will operationalise the Patients Charter. UNHCO submitted proposal on Constitutional Amendments on the subject to Right to Health to the Uganda Law Reform Commission. These propositions are shared with the Health Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Health. Press reports also served to highlight the processes to the public. UNHCO also created a task force to regularly evaluate, assess and develop key messages on Right to Health, which increases citizen’s vigilance on rights of violation to health.   UNHCO has also set a taskforce to monitor responded on the case of right to health violation and highlighted them for action. UNHCO patients complaint forms are distributed at selected health facilities, these patients’ forms are complimentary with redress mechanism for illegal violations and collect evidence for advocacy. UNHCO takes into consideration that the advocacy for legalization of right to health requires continuity and these are long-term processes.