Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH)
TSM strategically invests its resources in providing family planning services to address the high statistics of unmet needs in rural areas. These services are provided by the organization from both the static and mobile COE outreaches.
Achievement under SRH. In the period 2016 – 2020, 239,896 clients were reached. TSM deals with attitudes and practices of the target population to promote family planning and birth control as well as mechanisms for making pregnancy safer and healthier. Due to increased demands, we introduced provision of permanent methods in 2019. However, the uptake is still low, and we are currently partnering with Reach A Hand to appropriately expand these services.
OPD Services and Immunisation
From the static COE, TSM provides a full range of outpatient services. This has increased the level of contact, and TSM uses this to raise the profile of its work in the focus area of safe motherhood as our patients get information on maternal health best practices. TSM also provides immunization services as approved by the Ministry of Health.
Achievement under OPD and Immunization. In the period 2016 – 2020;
- BCG was administered to 10,488 children at birth.
- DPT Hepb+Hib 1 to 9,957 children at six weeks
- DPT2 to 9,999 children at ten weeks
- DPT3 to 10,202 children at 14 weeks
- Measles to 9,622 children at nine months.
Ministry of Health supports TSM in this work, and there is a need to sustain and scale up this component mostly on advocacy for the new vaccines for outbreaks– like COVID-19.
Laboratory Services
TSM operates a highly specialized and professionally equipped laboratory in the fixed COE.
Achievement under Laboratory Services
- TSM has carried out 48,790 Malaria blood smears, with 19,436 confirmed positive.
- Women tested for STI, 6,105 women were tested positive for other sexually transmitted ailments, and a total of 30,705 tested positive for tests related to Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs).
Our laboratory services are integral to our outreach activities concerning malaria, HIV testing, and other sexually transmitted ailments. We are equipped to carry out various tests as may be required occasionally to facilitate diagnosis.
Community Mobilization
Groups in a service network of savings and loans for community-based microfinance to support health needs in terms of readiness primarily for pregnant women and their husbands who also cover HIV & AIDS, Malaria and TB awareness, counseling, support innovative programs in orphans and vulnerable children and home-based health care (HBC) for the HIV affected in those groups.
Voluntary Programmes
Partnering with international volunteer organization to have volunteers as a way of bring in some funds and also knowledge and skills from within and outside the country.
Have community health volunteers to help in strengthening the community health programs and also support the health systems referrals and health education for the communities.
Youth Empowerment
Youth empowerment activities include sports, theatre, career development, and drug abuse training, as well as building overall awareness and engagement through youth group projects. In the future, a community library for reading, borrowing, and exchanging ideas will also be established.
Post Abortion Care
- Treats abortion related complications whenever necessary.
- Provides post abortion family planning counseling and related services according to guidelines.
- Refers mothers for appropriate and advanced management and other services as appropriate.
Strategies
To enable the realization of our aspirations, TSM has a strategic plan that guides the organization’s operations. The strategic plan has Key Result Areas (KRAs) for measuring the implementation of the strategic plan. These include:
- Reduced maternal.
- Reduced neonatal.
- Improved provision of safe and culturally relevant family planning.
- Increased prevention of Mother-to-Child transmission of HIV/AIDS.
- Increased access to accurate and timely educational and information materials on maternal health to service providers and
- Increase uptake of SRH services in the community.
- Strengthened Institutional Capacity and set up TSM health care center in remote areas and urban.
- Increased capacity building of community-based groups, women groups, youth groups, and people with disability groups and Use of voluntary service from both local and international volunteers.
- Increased linkages and collaboration with various stakeholders, Civil Society Organizations, NGOs, and government.
- Strengthened house hold-cantered approaches that link OVC services with HIV-affected families and
- Strengthened community structures that protect and promote healthy child development, such as churches, child area advisory councils/committees.
Collaboration and Partnerships
The organization values meaningful partnership and collaboration to achieve its objectives. TSM collaborates with the following partners:
- The districts where we operate cover all departments that connect with our intervention, like the district health team, Youth Affairs in enhancing youth activities, and the easy access to health facilities by our outreach team.
- Trust AIC regional HIV/AIDS project in areas of HIV/AIDS, OVC, OBGY, and
- Population Services International and PACE Uganda to enhance our SRH activities in the communities and also schools for awareness.
- Joint medical stores for the supply and delivery of art drugs and other materials for HIV/Aids.
- Reach a Hand Uganda in the Men’s Plus project to provide safe vasectomy to men in Uganda, particularly Teso and
- The Uganda health-marketing group for the promotion of malaria and child survival activities like delivery of drugs for ICCM.
- Soroti hospital.
- Princess Dinah health center iv and other CBOs.
Future Plans
- Construct a community- hospital specialized in all MCH care
- Construct a youth Resource Centre to provide the project’s target youth population with structured SRH needs & career development information, skills, and opportunities.
- Establish a Training Centre for all the health workers and community teams to serve as the resource Centre for continuous professional development.
- Establish an MCH center in Karamoja, Lango, Bukedi, and South Teso to meet the growing needs for our quality health services.
Challenges
- However, these high-quality free services have attracted many clients who are systematically overstretching TSM capacities in terms of room, medical supplies, medical equipment, and financial and human resources — making it progressively difficult for the facility to cope with the massive influx.
- Transportation of biopsies for histology and return of results has also been challenge since we did not have the funding for this activities and movement of clients.
- For the patients who are confirmed cervical cancer positive and require radiotherapy, movement to Mulago Cancer Institute has presented a significant challenge, as most of our clients are rural poor.
- Delayed community referral due to poor referral network, lack of timely ambulance facilities for emergency cases, and delayed response from referral facilities.
- Lack of specialized care and attention for special cases due to lack of skilled labor for the particular services and point of care.
- Movement and transportation of key community staff for dedicated days follow-ups and home care visits is challenging due to the lack of bicycles and motorbikes.
Requested Support
- Linkage and collaboration with development.
- In response to the challenge, TSM has acquired 4.1 acres of land in Soroti City to construct a fully-fledged Hospital in order to expand services and also have cost sharing facility for sustainability.
- Financial support for project implementation and enhancement of community development.
- Partnership with international institutions, g., universities and volunteer deployment organizations, to enable organizations to receive and host skilled volunteers to help empower the community.
- Recommendation to donors and multilateral funding institutions for project financial.