This is according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Health aimed at understanding how effective VHTs are at managing their communities. Uganda has 180,000 VHTs members but only 60,000 of these have acquired training.
Uganda adopted the VHT strategy in 2001 as a bridge in health service delivery between community and health facilities. But according to the survey, only a few were trained to effectively monitor and manage patients.
Their work includes community mobilisation for public health campaigns such as immunisation and family planning, nutrition and home visits.
Prof. Anthony Mbonye, the Director General Health Services, notes that the training gap has been caused by lack of funding. He notes that the development partners have trained some of the VHTs in districts where they operate.
Jova Kamateeka, the Woman Member of Parliament for Mitooma district, says it is unfortunate that VHT members are untrained. She notes that the government should borrow
money to train them.
Dr. Joachim Osur, the Amref Health Africa Director, says that governments have been reluctant to invest in VHTs. He notes that governments are trying several policies without really funding them.
But according to Prof. Mbonye, the health ministry has drafted a new policy that is aimed at reducing the number of VHTs and emphasising their training.