The World Health Organization (WHO) published its Uganda 2025 annual review on 28 April, mapping gains in immunisation, epidemic readiness and maternal services while flagging shortfalls in health financing and workforce density. Issued from the WHO Representative Office in Kampala, the 76-page document covers the period January-December 2024 and draws on ministry of health records, joint reviews and partner surveys.
Uganda expanded routine vaccine coverage to 91 percent of districts, enabling 1. 2 million children to receive the first dose of measles-rubella vaccine on schedule. WHO credits the rebound to targeted outreach in Karamoja and Busoga regions, plus the rollout of solar-powered fridges that kept doses at stable temperatures.
“A functional cold-chain is the backbone of epidemic prevention,” country representative Dr. Yonas Tegegn said in the report.
Maternal deaths fell to 189 per 100,000 live births, down from 336 in 2023, after government and UN agencies equipped 186 rural health centres with blood storage units and theatre capacity. Skilled-birth attendance rose to 86 percent, buoyed by a midwife-training surge that added 1,728 graduates in 2024. Still, sub-regions such as Acholi and Bukedi recorded rates below the national average, signalling persistent inequities.
The country averted large Ebola flare — ups in 2024 through rapid diagnostics and ring vaccination, yet sporadic outbreaks of yellow fever and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever exposed gaps in vector control. Only 41 percent of high-risk districts met minimum standards for integrated disease surveillance, the review notes, urging stronger vector-control budgets.
Non — communicable diseases pushed hospitals harder, accounting for 31 percent of adult admissions; hypertension medicines were stock-out in 28 percent of facilities at least once per quarter. Mental-health cases reported through the national suicide registry increased 13 percent to 1,942 incidents, prompting WHO to recommend community counselling hubs.
Domestic health spending stayed at 6.8 percent of the national budget, short of the 15 percent Abuja target and below the regional peer average of 9 percent. External donors financed 48 percent of the health sector, raising sustainability worries amid tightening global aid. Government’s new Human Resources for Health policy pledges 74 billion shillings to hire 6,900 additional workers in 2025; WHO calls the plan “a step toward closing Uganda’s 64 percent staffing gap”.
On the positive side, Kampala phase — two laboratories gained accreditation for genomic sequencing, enabling local scientists to characterise pathogens without shipping samples abroad. The facility sequenced 2,342 specimens in 2024, mapping cholera variants that informed targeted vaccine campaigns. Antimicrobial resistance surveillance also grew from five to twelve sentinel sites, boosting early-warning capacity for treatment failures.
In comparison with neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania, Uganda surpassed both in measles coverage but lagged in doctor — to-patient ratio, holding one physician per 8,310 citizens versus Kenya’s 1:5,040. Analysts say immigration incentives and bonded scholarships could keep more clinicians at home.
Looking ahead, WHO projects that climate — linked diseases such as malaria and dengue could rise 15 percent by 2027 unless vector-control budgets are doubled. At current funding trends, the report warns, “Uganda risks back-sliding on maternal, neonatal and nutritional gains achieved over the past decade”.
Source: WHO Uganda 2025 Annual Report
