MSI Uganda influences Ministry of Health family planning national standards

The Ministry of Health has included MSI Uganda’s consent forms and provider competency assessment tools in Uganda’s National Family Planning Proficiency Assessment Tool.

In 2024, MSI Uganda asked the Ministry to issue a national data call inviting all implementing partners to submit their existing assessment tools for review and consolidation. A technical consultant, supported by MSI Uganda, analyzed the submissions and produced a draft which was refined through a series of inclusive stakeholder consultations involving government officials, implementing partners, professional associations, and technical experts.

The Family Planning Technical Working Group served as the primary platform for strategic engagement and decision-making, where MSI Uganda made a presentation on the impact of public sector strengthening on increasing long-term contraception provision. This prompted the Ministry of Health to request a site visit.

The site visit, which engaged a broader range of government stakeholders, provided the evidence base to justify recommendations to harmonize and simplify the tools.

The initiative addresses a longstanding challenge within Uganda’s health system. For many years, implementing partners used protocols not always in line with WHO standards. This resulted in inconsistent approaches to provider assessment and quality improvement.

The tool development was part of a wider standardization and digitization process and is now the government’s standard tool for assessing provider competence and monitoring the quality of family planning services across the country.

Following harmonization, the Ministry, with support from MSI Uganda, digitized the assessment tool to improve efficiency, data quality, and program oversight. The transition from a paper-based system to a digital platform represents a significant step towards modernizing quality assurance within Uganda’s family planning program.