Expectant Mothers Shun Health Vouchers

http://ugandaradionetwork.com/a/story.php?s=59011
Expectant mothers in Kabarole district are shunning the Voucher health system introduced to them by Marie Stopes health providers to increase access to health facilities.

The arrangement is designed to widen access to safe motherhood services for poor Ugandan women with quality, subsidised services. It is delivered through a voucher scheme that targets subsidies for services and by providing technical assistance to private obstetric units in underserved areas.

It’s based on research findings that indicated that women weren’t attending all recommended antenatal visits and only 17% of the women in rural areas were giving birth in health units.

A voucher entitles the holder to four antenatal care visits, delivery and one postnatal care visit in over 20 districts of south and western Uganda. Free referral is available in the event of a complication.

Marie Stopes sells vouchers to Village Health Teams (VHT) at a cost of UGX 1,000 each. The VHTs and distributors in turn sell the vouchers to pregnant women at UGX 2,000.

However in Kabarole the system isn’t being utilized. In Kichwamba Sub County, records by the Village Health team indicate that in the past five months, only six pregnant women have used the vouchers.

Ritah Komuhimbo, a resident of Karago village in Kichwamba says that the system is good, but she doesn’t think that it will solve the problem of accessing health units.

Komuhimbo questions the importance of the voucher, yet the roads in the area are in a sorry state, a reason why some expectant mothers still can’t access health units despite holding a voucher

Yet still, some health units are too congested and lack adequate facilities and personnel to attend to patients, she argues.

//Cue in: “itwe abakazi…
Cue out: “…bad roads.”//

In Bukuku Sub County, some mothers are ignorant about the system. Irene Kobusinge, a resident of Kyakaigo says that the district health department hasn’t done enough to sensitize mothers about the system.

Vincent Mugisa, a VHT volunteer in Bukuku Sub County also attributes the lack of interest to the influence of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs). Mugisa says that the TBAs are frustrating the work of medical personnel by de-campaigning the project.

Mugisa however says that they plan to work with the TBAs, with an aim of popularizing the voucher system.

Attending ante-natal care visits and delivering at health facilities is a challenge for many pregnant women in Uganda. According to the 2011 Uganda Demographic Household Survey, only about 25% of pregnant women in Uganda make all four recommended ante-natal visits, and about56% deliver at health facilities.