MITOOMA,UGANDA – Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa has cautioned 155 newly trained Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) in Mitooma District against treating patients or setting up informal clinics, urging them to concentrate on health education, disease prevention and linking communities to health facilities.
Tayebwa said the workers should instead serve as the government’s eyes and ears within communities by identifying health risks, educating households and referring patients to appropriate health facilities.
He was speaking on Monday during the passing-out ceremony for the community health extension workers at the Mitooma District headquarters, where he joined Ministry of Health officials and district leaders to mark the completion of their training.
The workers are expected to take health promotion closer to households, particularly in areas where residents face difficulties accessing health facilities. Their responsibilities include community sensitisation, disease surveillance, encouraging immunisation and antenatal care, identifying health risks and referring patients for professional treatment.
Tayebwa said Mitooma’s geographical setting and disease burden make community sensitisation critical. The district has communities bordering forests and a national park, while malaria remains a significant health concern.
He urged the workers to identify communities with particular disease burdens and tailor health education campaigns to the needs of those areas.
He also asked local leaders to give the workers space at community gatherings, including burial ceremonies, to sensitise people instead of allowing such platforms to be dominated by politicians.
Tayebwa further urged the workers to educate communities about lifestyle-related diseases, including the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption, and to encourage women to attend routine antenatal care.
He cautioned the workers to protect bicycles and other equipment provided by government, saying the items were intended to facilitate their work and should not be treated as personal property.
Director General of Health Services Dr. Charles Olaro said the deployment is part of a broader Ministry of Health effort to shift Uganda’s health system towards prevention rather than waiting for people to fall sick before seeking treatment.
Olaro said a large proportion of Uganda’s disease burden could be prevented through better health information, healthier lifestyles and early action at community level. He noted that the success of the CHEWs programme will be measured by health problems prevented in communities rather than by the number of patients referred to health facilities.
He said community health workers should play a key role in promoting immunisation, antenatal care, family planning, sanitation and prevention of non-communicable diseases.
Mitooma District Acting District Health Officer Julius Taremwa said the new workers will help address a longstanding gap between households and health facilities.
Although the district recently recruited 101 health workers, including a surgeon, gynaecologist and medical officers, its staffing level remains at about 22 percent. He said the district still faces gaps in health facilities, with Katenga Sub-county having no health facility at all and Kiyanga Sub-county also facing access challenges, while Mitooma General Hospital is undergoing further development.
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