Don’t Act Like Doctors: Tayebwa Warns Mitooma Community Health Workers

What the report says

Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa has warned newly trained Community Health Extension Workers in Mitooma District not to treat patients, open informal clinics or present themselves as clinicians. Speaking at their pass-out ceremony at the district headquarters on Monday, he said their role is to support health education, disease prevention, community sensitisation and referrals to formal health facilities.

According to Watchdog Uganda, 155 CHEWs completed training for deployment in a district where access to care remains uneven. Tayebwa said they should act as links between households and the health system, helping identify risks, promote immunisation and antenatal care, and guide people who need professional treatment. He also urged local leaders to give the workers space at community meetings and burial gatherings so they can speak about health issues, including alcohol misuse and maternal care.

The Deputy Speaker said Mitooma’s geography makes community-level outreach especially important, noting that parts of the district border forests and a national park and that malaria remains a concern. He advised the workers to map areas with greater disease burden and adapt their messages to local conditions. He also told them to protect bicycles and other government-issued equipment used for their work.

Health officials at the ceremony said the deployment fits a wider Ministry of Health approach that emphasizes prevention over late treatment. Mitooma district leaders added that staffing and facility gaps remain in some sub-counties, underscoring why community-based health workers matter. In general, CHEW programmes in Uganda are designed to extend basic health promotion and referral services closer to households, especially where facilities are far away.