How is physical health infrastructure in Uganda supporting universal health coverage?

Abstract

Physical infrastructure is a key factor in attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Many low- and middle-income countries have endeavoured to increase access to health services through scaling up their community outreach programmes and increasingly strengthening their community systems, with community health workers playing a central and greater role. Health infrastructure still plays a pivotal role in the provision of quality health services and also in supporting any community activities and the referral system. Th is chapter starts by defining infrastructure and its importance, and follows this with a description of the historical trajectory of infrastructure development in Uganda. It then explores the factors that have been driving health infrastructure in both the public and the private sectors, before concluding with a discussion of the centrality of infrastructure to expanding health services to populations.