In December 2019, Banyan Global gender and youth specialists on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)- and President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI)-funded Malaria Action Program for Districts (MAPD) visited health workers at Busaana Health Center III in the Kampala Region of Uganda. The purpose of the visit was to give additional support to the health center’s staff on providing gender- and youth-sensitive malaria in pregnancy (MIP) and antenatal care (ANC) services to community members.

Overall, the team observed improvements in the care provided by Busaana Health Center III, as well as increased adoption of positive MIP practices among the community. For example, with the encouragement of health workers, more men were accompanying women to their ANC visits. In addition, during home visits the team found that men and women who had participated in community dialogues earlier in the year continued to use insecticide-treated bed nets for malaria prevention and were encouraging others to do so as well.

Furthermore, Banyan Global’s MAPD Gender and Youth Director updated the Busaana Sub-County Executive Committee on the project’s progress in implementing gender- and youth-sensitive malaria prevention services in the area. The committee pledged their continuing support for this important work.

Moving forward, the health workers at Busaana Health Center III will continue to encourage men to accompany women on ANC visits, support women during MIP with regular check-ups, and improve their support to adolescent mothers. The MAPD team will work to address the remaining challenge of ensuring that pregnant women receive the supplies and care they need when they need them in order to prevent MIP. The team now has a WhatsApp group with Busaana Health Center III staff that it will use to quickly share information on supplies, challenges, and achievements in order to improve their work.