Uganda has made important progress in strengthening community health care. The country introduced the Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) policy and strategy in 2018 to expand service delivery. By October 2026, Uganda’s CHEW programme had expanded to 71 districts, while more than 8,900 CHEWs nationwide had been trained equipped with digital tools connected to the electronic Community Health Information System to support service delivery and reporting.

Building on this progress, Uganda’s commitment to community health was on full display at last week’s 4th National Health Promotion & Disease Prevention Conference and inaugural Community Health Workers Summit.  Village Health Teams (VHTs) and CHEWs shared their experiences and challenges, calling on the government to fulfil their payment commitments.

“The strength of our health system ultimately depends on the capacity of our communities to prevent disease,” said Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, Uganda’s Minister of Health.

A key milestone was the launch of the Community Health Workers Implementation Framework (2026–2031), which was developed with technical support from Living Goods through the Building Integrated Readiness for Community Health (BIRCH) Project—funded by the Global Fund and supported by Africa Frontline First. BIRCH supports governments to strengthen community health systems by improving policies and foundational frameworks, planning, financing, and coordination to strengthen service delivery.

For more than two decades, Uganda has relied heavily on volunteer Village Health Teams to connect families to essential health services. But gaps in training, supervision, and compensation have limited their effectiveness. The new framework marks a shift towards a more structured workforce, with CHEWs taking on clearer responsibilities in delivering services and supervising VHTs. It also sets national standards for recruitment, training, compensation and performance, bringing previously separate approaches under one government-led system.

But putting the framework into practice will require sustained government investment. Community health workers need training, digital support, clear responsibilities, reliable pay, regular supervision, essential medicines and supplies, and functioning referral systems. These investments must be backed by predictable government funding and budgets.

Several speakers at the conference also called for an expansion of the community health workforce. While this is important, numbers alone will not improve health outcomes. Community health workers must have the support they need to provide quality care.

This is where Living Goods works alongside governments as a performance partner to build community health systems that perform reliably at scale, so that when families need health care, it’s there.

“Health does not begin in a hospital. It begins in our homes, our schools, our workplaces, our places of worship, and our communities,” Vice President Jesca Alupo noted.

The conference brought together leaders from government, led by the Vice President; cultural and religious institutions, including the Kyabazinga of Busoga and the Deputy Katikiro of Buganda Kingdom; development and implementing partners; and frontline health workers. The conference was held under the theme “Strategic Positioning of Community Structures as the Foundation of Primary Health Care and Health Security.”