The Centre of Excellence for Maternal Newborn and Child Health this week hosted UNICEF’s Chief of Health Prof Stefan Swartling Peterson who was here to get a brief on the new Maternal Newborn (MaNe) Health Kampala Slum project.
Population Service International (PSI) and Kampala Capital City Authority are the main implementing partners, while Makerere is taking lead on the learning and evaluation component of this three-year project with funding from USAID.
In his brief remarks to the project partners, Prof Peterson said the study comes at an interesting time when the health of city dwellers is beginning to arouse interest among development partners.
“Even at UNICEF, we are increasingly thinking of focusing on cities which is a shift away from past programming that has been country focussed,” said the professor adding, “ you however need to plan at this time what policy and practice you need to influence and strategize on what products will help you achieve this.”
The MaNe project is to be implemented in the slum communities and informal settlements in the divisions of Rubaga and Makindye in Kampala city. The project will initiate and test innovative interventions/approaches to address the demand and supply side barriers affecting illness recognition, care seeking, effective referral and provision of quality care equitably for better maternal and newborn outcomes in urban slum settings in Kampala.