The Ministry of Health (MoH) with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) convened a donor conference to disseminate the eHealth Policy, Strategy and Implementation Plan, present the Enterprise Architecture Concept & Health Information Exchange and Resource Mobilization Strategy, and harmonize the eHealth implementation work plan for sustainability. The stakeholders noted that, previously, many donor-funded eHealth Services stopped at the pilot stage, where Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is introduced to demonstrate how innovation can support health, but lack local ownership, support and funding. In that regard, the policy and strategy will address these gaps and push for local ownership and sustained funding of health services to ensure sustainability. The conference further agreed to leverage the existing Ugandan eHealth landscape and incorporate the new components of eHealth.

Additionally, the implementation of the eHealth policy and strategy will accelerate the ongoing reforms and sustain the gains witnessed in the health sector since 2015, when the sector started the implementation of Health Sector Development Plan (HSDP). The policy and strategy will address some of the key challenges experienced during HSDP, that include a shortage of qualified healthcare professionals at all levels of the health system, epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB), and malaria, and limited access to health facilities and health professionals due to poor infrastructure, inefficiencies of the healthcare system, poverty, and lack of information.

The Permanent Secretary at Uganda's Ministry of Health Dr Diana Atwiine reechoed the stakeholders' concerns on funding and local ownership, saying, "The pilots often stall when the development partner funding ends. The projects also fail due to lack of sustainability in terms of the supporting infrastructure such as affordable and reliable power and internet connectivity."
She further said that eHealth services form part of the current national health information and knowledge resources, “However, these services are, in most cases, stand-alone and funded by donors." 
She, however, thanked WHO and UNICEF for convening the stakeholders and providing technical and financial assistance to MoH to roll out the eHealth Policy and strategy.

Mr Moses Bagyendera, the National Professional Officer in charge of Public Health Informatics at the WHO Country office, gave an overview of the formulation exercise of the policy. He also shared the costed implementation plan and the phased-out approach to the implementation, urging members to embrace ICT in the health sector. 

Concisely, the National eHealth Policy and Strategy will deliver the eventual benefit of a safer, high-quality, equitable, efficient, and sustainable health system that is equipped to respond to emerging health sector costs and demands. The Ugandan healthcare system enhancements will also drive stronger workforce productivity that is vital to Uganda’s long-term economic development.

The stakeholders agreed that the National eHealth Policy and Strategy are instrumental in the country’s eHealth journey, noting that they are practical, balanced, and will help to lead Uganda towards the delivery of a safer, better connected, and more sustainable healthcare system.
The conference was attended by participants from the Academia, CDC Atlanta, Civil Society Organizations, Ministry of Health, the private sector, Implementing Partners, USAID, UBTC, WHO and UNICEF.