WHO and Uganda Launch Report to Address Barriers to Family Planning Access

The World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with Uganda’s Ministry of Health (MoH), UNFPA, and Makerere University School of Public Health, has unveiled the Family Planning Bottleneck Analysis Report, a comprehensive assessment aimed at identifying and addressing systemic barriers that hinder access to family planning services in Uganda.

The report, disseminated at a high-level event in Kampala, represents a significant step toward improving reproductive health outcomes and advancing Universal Health Coverage (UHC) goals in the country. It highlights both Uganda’s achievements in expanding family planning services and the persistent gaps that continue to impede progress toward equitable access.

“Ensuring access to quality family planning services is a high-impact intervention that can address the unmet need and improve coverage as a key pillar for safe motherhood,” said Dr. Joseph Okware, Director of Health Services for Governance and Regulation at the Ministry of Health, during the dissemination event.

Progress Achieved in Family Planning Coverage

Over the past decade, Uganda has made commendable progress in strengthening its family planning initiatives. Guided by the Family Planning Costed Implementation Plan (CIP) II (2020–2025) and Family Planning 2030 commitments, the government has expanded access to modern contraceptives and improved awareness of reproductive health services.

According to the report:

• The modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) among women aged 15–49 years increased from 27.3% in 2016 to 29.8% in 2022.

• The unmet need for family planning declined significantly from 28.4% to 18.5% during the same period.

• More than 3.5 million women are now using modern contraceptive methods.

These gains reflect Uganda’s sustained policy efforts and investment in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (RMNCAH) programmes, as well as the country’s commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment.

“These achievements demonstrate the government’s dedication to ensuring that every woman and girl has the right to plan her family and her future,” noted a statement from the Ministry of Health.

Persistent Challenges: High Fertility and Teenage Pregnancy

Despite these improvements, the report reveals that Uganda’s total fertility rate (TFR) remains high at 5.2 children per woman, one of the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. This indicates a continued gap between reproductive intentions and contraceptive use.

Teenage pregnancy remains a pressing concern, with 23.5% of adolescent girls aged 15–19 having begun childbearing — a figure that has implications for education, health, and economic empowerment.

Alarmingly, only 2% of mothers in Uganda currently receive immediate postpartum family planning services, missing a critical opportunity to prevent unintended pregnancies and improve maternal health outcomes.

Identified Bottlenecks and Barriers

The Family Planning Bottleneck Analysis Report provides a detailed examination of the factors hindering effective delivery and scale-up of evidence-based family planning interventions. The key barriers identified include:

1. Inadequate financing: Insufficient funds to implement large-scale social and behavior change communication (SBCC) campaigns that can address misconceptions and promote family planning uptake.

2. Health system constraints: Weaknesses in supply chain management, inadequate staffing at health facilities, and inconsistent service delivery models.

3. Policy and regulatory gaps: Outdated or insufficient policy frameworks that limit task-sharing and equitable access to services, particularly in underserved rural communities.

4. Data and monitoring limitations: Gaps in tracking performance indicators related to family planning integration and quality assurance.

These challenges, the report concludes, limit Uganda’s ability to achieve universal access to family planning services despite existing national commitments and donor support.

Recommendations for Action and Reform

To overcome these barriers, the report lays out a roadmap for strengthening the country’s reproductive health ecosystem. The key recommendations include:

• Strengthening provider capacity through regular training, mentorship, and continuous professional development.

• Enhancing contraceptive supply chains to ensure consistent availability of commodities at health facilities.

• Integrating social and behavior change communication indicators into the Health Management Information System (HMIS) to improve data-driven decision-making.

• Developing and implementing task-sharing policies that allow trained nurses, midwives, and community health workers to deliver contraceptive services, especially in remote areas.

• Increasing domestic financing for family planning to reduce reliance on external funding.

“To improve family planning outcomes, we must do things differently,” said Kira Koch, Cluster Lead for Universal Health Coverage at WHO Uganda. “This means strengthening leadership, financing, commodity management, community engagement, service delivery, and data use.”

WHO and Partners’ Continued Commitment

The WHO reaffirmed its ongoing partnership with the Government of Uganda to improve access, quality, and sustainability of family planning services. The organisation will continue to provide technical assistance, policy support, and capacity building to help translate the report’s recommendations into actionable programmes.

“WHO remains committed to supporting the Ministry of Health in addressing family planning coverage through evidence-based approaches that align with Uganda’s national priorities, Family Planning 2030 commitments, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” Koch added.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Makerere University School of Public Health also pledged continued collaboration, focusing on research, monitoring, and evaluation to inform policy decisions and improve health system resilience.

A Call for Multisectoral Collaboration

Experts at the dissemination event emphasized the need for stronger multisectoral partnerships among government, academia, civil society, and the private sector to create an enabling environment for reproductive health.

They underscored that improving family planning access is not only a health issue but a development imperative—one that contributes directly to reducing poverty, improving education outcomes, and achieving gender equality.

“Family planning is a cornerstone of national development,” said Dr. Okware. “When families can plan their lives, they invest more in education, health, and productivity — driving the progress of the entire nation.”

Toward Universal Access and Sustainable Development

The Family Planning Bottleneck Analysis Report provides a data-driven foundation for Uganda’s ongoing reforms in reproductive health. It calls for increased accountability, local ownership, and innovative financing models to accelerate progress toward universal access to modern contraceptives by 2030.

With continued leadership, investment, and global partnerships, Uganda has the potential to transform its family planning landscape — improving the lives of millions of women, men, and adolescents, and advancing the broader goals of health equity and sustainable development.

As the report concludes, by addressing systemic barriers and embracing evidence-based strategies, Uganda can pave the way for a healthier, more empowered generation, ensuring that every person has the right and means to make informed choices about their reproductive health.