By Ben Musanje
Uganda’s push to move health facilities from paper-based records to digital systems is gaining momentum, with the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), through the Uganda Communications Universal Service and Access Fund (UCUSAF), partnering with the country’s four faith-based medical bureaus to equip health workers with computers and practical digital skills.
The initiative, known as the Faith-Led Health Information Competency Program (FLHCIP), is targeting health facilities that serve communities across Uganda, particularly lower-level facilities where access to information and communication technology remains limited.
The latest phase of the programme was highlighted on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at St. Francis Kijaguzo Health Centre III in Nakaseke District, where health workers, medical bureau officials, UCC representatives and other stakeholders gathered for the launch of digital skilling activities.
The programme, which started in 2025 and is ongoing, is being implemented by the Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau (UCMB), Uganda Protestant Medical Bureau, Uganda Orthodox Medical Bureau (UOMB) and Uganda Muslim Medical Bureau (UMMB) in partnership with Kisubi Associated Writers Agency (KAWA).
Under the programme, UCC has provided computers and internet routers to 58 selected faith-based health facilities. Each facility received three desktop computers and a router, translating into about 175 computers and 58 routers across the project.
Susan Nakanwagi, a UCC project manager under UCUSAF, said the intervention was born out of the need to bridge the digital divide in healthcare and ensure that technology reaches facilities that would otherwise struggle to acquire it.
She said the first phase focused on equipping health facilities, an idea she attributed to UCC leadership, before the partners realised that providing computers alone would not be enough.
“We now needed to see that the computers are used,” Nakanwagi said, noting that in some cases equipment could remain unused because health workers lacked the skills to operate it.
The programme therefore moved from simply supplying hardware to providing practical digital training and ongoing mentorship.
Nakanwagi said UCC’s broader mandate is to promote access to communication services, particularly in areas that are underserved or unserved. Through UCUSAF, the Commission supports initiatives aimed at reducing not only the access gap but also the usage gap—ensuring that communities and institutions can actually make productive use of technology once it becomes available.
She explained that licensed telecommunications and other communication operators contribute two percent of their annual gross revenue to UCC, with the Commission retaining one percent for universal service and access initiatives while the remainder goes to the Consolidated Fund.
The resources retained through the fund support interventions in areas such as ICT in health, education and agriculture, including equipment, internet connectivity and digital skills development.
“For this particular project, we’re trying to show that for private hospitals we go to, everything is so automated,” Nakanwagi said. “You do not move around with any piece of paper; your records are already in.”
The objective, she added, is to bring some of that efficiency to ordinary health centres, reducing long queues, dependence on physical files and the risk of losing patient records.
The intervention comes at a critical time for Uganda’s health sector as the Ministry of Health transitions from manual registers to digital health information systems.
Lawrence Kirwana Ssekimpi, project coordinator at UCMB, said health facilities have traditionally relied on numerous paper registers covering outpatient services, maternity, antenatal care, postnatal care, laboratory services and other departments.
Printing and maintaining those registers is costly, while transporting paper-based reports can delay decision-making and expose health workers to logistical challenges.
He said the transition to digital health information systems requires three essential elements: equipment, skills and reliable network connectivity.
“By the time UCC came, it was timely,” Ssekimpi said, adding that the partnership with the medical bureaus was designed to expand ICT coverage in health facilities where the need was greatest.
The four faith-based medical bureaus collectively support more than 700 health facilities across Uganda, ranging from Health Centre IIIs and IVs to hospitals.
According to Ssekimpi, facilities supported through the faith medical bureaus account for about 11 percent of outpatient attendances nationally, while approximately 10 percent of immunisation doses administered in the country are delivered through facilities supported by the bureaus.
This makes the digital transformation of faith-based facilities significant to the wider health system.
However, only 58 of the more than 700 facilities have so far benefited from the UCC-supported equipment and training programme.
Ssekimpi acknowledged that the number is an important beginning but remains small compared to the overall need.
The project has so far trained more than 850 health workers, against a target of 1,000. The training uses a hands-on approach, with trainers working directly with health workers at their places of work rather than relying solely on conventional classroom sessions.
The programme also provides continued mentorship, with the medical bureaus expected to support health workers after the initial training.
Ssekimpi said this approach was adopted after experience showed that one-off computer training could easily leave workers struggling with basic skills once trainers had left.
The programme is also establishing digital champions with advanced ICT knowledge at facility level to help other staff and sustain the use of the systems.
At St. Francis Kijaguzo, the benefits of the intervention are already being felt.
Tadeo Musiime, a clinician at the facility, said the computers have improved administrative work, reporting and the management of health information.
Tasks that previously required manual calculations and extensive paperwork can now be completed using programmes such as Excel, while the electronic registry is helping reduce dependence on physical patient forms.
“No more worries about papers, about someone forgetting a medical form behind,” Musiime said, describing the digital transition as a move into a more efficient era of healthcare delivery.
He, however, identified several challenges that could undermine the gains if not addressed.
One is the limited number of computers. Kijaguzo received three computers, but Musiime said the facility would ideally require about 11 so that different departments can have dedicated access.
The cost of internet connectivity is another major concern. Musiime estimated that maintaining uninterrupted internet access can cost the facility between Shs250,000 and Shs300,000 per month, a significant expense for a health centre serving a local community.
He called on telecommunications companies and other partners to consider supporting health facilities with affordable or subsidised internet connectivity.
The facility also continues to face broader equipment and service gaps, despite support from development partners, including assistance with solar power and staff accommodation.
Musiime urged stakeholders and members of the public to continue supporting the facility as it seeks to expand its services.
For UCC, sustainability and protection of the donated equipment are also critical.
Nakanwagi urged health facilities to keep the computers secure, warning that cases of equipment being stolen have been reported elsewhere and that stolen devices are often not recovered.
She also called for greater coordination among development partners to avoid duplication, arguing that some facilities receive several donations while others remain without basic ICT equipment.
The Commission is therefore encouraging partnerships in which different organisations can build on one another’s interventions—for example, one partner providing computers while another supports internet connectivity.
Nakanwagi stopped short of promising additional equipment or internet support but said the concerns raised by health workers would be communicated to UCC leadership.
The partnership, she said, demonstrates that digital transformation in healthcare cannot be achieved by hardware alone.
It requires equipment, connectivity, skills, mentorship and sustained collaboration.
As Uganda moves further towards digital health information management, the experience at Kijaguzo and the other 57 beneficiary facilities offers a glimpse of what could be achieved if such interventions are expanded.
For faith-based medical bureaus, which have a presence in virtually every part of the country and contribute substantially to national health service delivery, wider digital access could mean faster reporting, better record management, improved accountability and ultimately more efficient care for patients.
The immediate challenge now is to move beyond the initial 58 facilities and ensure that the digital transformation reaches the hundreds of faith-based health facilities that remain outside the programme.
The message from both UCC and the medical bureaus is clear: the computers are only the beginning. The bigger goal is to ensure that technology becomes a practical tool for stronger healthcare, better information and improved services for communities across Uganda. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
