Agency
The Ministry of Health (MoH) has instructed health facilities across the country to hold community barazas every six months.
A community baraza is a public meeting where authorities, officials, and the public converge to discuss service delivery, demand accountability, and forge a way forward.
The directive applies to National, Regional Referral, General hospitals, and Health Center IVs and IIIs. The initiative aims to build public confidence in health services, gather routine feedback from communities, inform the public about available services, and disseminate key health messages.
In a letter addressed to facility management and chief administrative officers, Dr. Diana Atwine, Permanent Secretary, MoH, emphasized that while health workers play their roles in advancing healthcare, “it’s imperative that we pay attention to the feedback from the community in line with the services we offer.”
She added that such feedback “will enable us to understand the perception of the public to the services we are offering and institute measures to address any gaps that may arise.” After each baraza, institutions are expected to submit a report to the central coordinating team at the ministry. Dr. Andrew Odur, Acting Hospital Director for Lira Regional Referral Hospital (LRRH), said his facility has already conducted one such engagement in March this year.
He announced that the second community baraza will be held on November 14 under the theme: “The role of the community in improving health service delivery.” Dr. Odur explained that the theme reflects the hospital’s desire to keep communities close to their services, saying: “And we believe that through this engagement, we will be able to reach a common ground where we all flourish and we promote good health for this community.”
