As one of the efforts to improve population health, the National Community Health Program implementation set major priority actions for the period 2024, which include Community health governance and coordination structures at the sub-national level created/reactivated and strengthened; Community health workforce harmonized and performance strengthened and Integrated Community Health services package implemented.

The rationale for community health programs is driven among others by the fact that there is a high and increasing Disease burden in Uganda yet 75% (34/44 million) of annual health system contacts are preventable at community level.

Health-care systems determine only 10% of health outcomes, whereas health behaviour and social and physical settings determine at least 50%.

Community health prioritizes Disease prevention; Health protection and health promotion; Bringing care closer to the community; fostering community engagement and ownership, addressing broader determinants of health; and Creating healthier societies with improved well-being. To achieve this, the National Community Health implementation program will apply a number of strategies which include:

A cost-effective approach that ensures community-level disease prevention and health promotion are more cost-effective than individualized curative care.

A shift to community health Interventions that actively involve communities in planning, implementing, and evaluating health programs and therefore fostering ownership, empowerment, and collective responsibility.

The program also included Community Tailored Interventions that are meant for specific needs and cultural contexts thus enhance effectiveness by respecting local customs and beliefs.

It also includes investment in community Health with the intention of promoting resilience and self-sufficiency; Empowers communities to identify and address health challenges continually; and Contributes to sustained health improvements.

The major shifts in implementing the Community Health Program include its movement from predominantly disease episode screening, treatment and referral to predominantly tackling community level drivers of poor health and diseases; from Fragmented community interventions to integrated & life course promotion, prevention protection, responsive to holistic need and from focusing only on Community Health Workers delivering community-based services to empowering community platforms on health determinants. All these shifts are bound to lead to a reduced burden of disease by age, condition, population group, and location coupled with a minimized burden of risk factors in the community and improved holistic wellbeing.