Teenage pregnancy remains a major health concern in Busoga, with 419 girls below the age of 15 registered for antenatal care in health facilities across the region during the 2025/2026 financial year .
The figures are contained in the Busoga Joint Health Sector Performance Review report for 2025/2026, presented on Wednesday by Simon Atria, a biostatistician at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital.
The report also shows that 27,528 adolescents aged 15 to 19 gave birth in health facilities during the year, highlighting the continued burden of early pregnancy and childbirth in the region.
The report shows that teenagers accounted for one in every five women making their first antenatal care visit in Busoga, with Namayingo recording the highest proportion at 25 per cent.
Among girls below 15, health facilities recorded 1,275 deliveries during the year, with Buyende registering the highest proportion at 2.3 per cent. Mayuge recorded 65 pregnancies among girls below 15, while Buyende and Bugiri recorded 58 and 55 respectively.
The figures are consistent with wider evidence showing that Busoga has a higher teenage pregnancy burden than the national average.
Dr Hamis Mugendawala, Senior Manager for Population and Social Development Planning at the National Planning Authority, said 28.4 per cent of girls aged 15 to 19 in Busoga have begun childbearing, compared with 23.5 per cent nationally.
‘When a 16-year-old leaves school because of pregnancy, the loss is not hers alone,’ Dr Mugendawala said, noting that the consequences are eventually borne by households, the health and education systems, the labour market and the wider economy.
The Minister for the Presidency, Ms Milly Babalanda, said the government recognises the persistent health disparities affecting Busoga, particularly teenage pregnancy.
‘We must acknowledge that Busoga continues to lag behind other regions on some critical health indicators, particularly childhood mortality, fertility rates and teenage pregnancy,’ Ms Babalanda said.
Ms Babalanda also urged health workers and local leaders to strengthen community-level interventions to address the social and economic factors contributing to poor health outcomes.
Dr Yayi Alfred, Senior Executive Consultant at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital, said addressing teenage pregnancy requires different stakeholders to take responsibility and act on the factors driving the problem.
Mothers still dying
The review recorded 74 maternal deaths among 161,033 facility deliveries, giving the region an institutional maternal mortality ratio of 47 deaths per 100,000 deliveries.
Jinja City recorded the highest institutional maternal mortality ratio in the region, at 148 deaths per 100,000 deliveries, with 22 maternal deaths reported.
Health officials partly attributed the high figure to the city’s referral facilities receiving complicated cases from surrounding areas.
Postpartum haemorrhage was the leading cause of maternal deaths, accounting for 44 per cent of the fatalities.
The region recorded 1,509 perinatal deaths, including 436 caused by birth asphyxia.
Emergency response gaps
The review also exposed gaps in emergency transport, with 54,844 cases recorded during the year. Of these, 73 per cent were transported using private means, while only six per cent reached health facilities by ambulance.
Dr Allan Muruta, Commissioner for Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance at the Ministry of Health, said ambulance coverage in the region stands at about 54 per cent, leaving gaps in constituencies and health facilities.
‘There are still gaps in the number of ambulances that are in constituencies and the health facilities,’ Dr Muruta said, adding that the Ministry was mobilising resources with the Ministry of Finance, development projects and partners to address the shortfall.
He said the Ministry plans to ensure every region has a Type C critical-care ambulance to provide advanced care to critically ill patients during referrals.
Authorities at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital said the facility has two Type B ambulances but needs a Type C ambulance to provide advanced life support and transport critically ill patients to national referral hospitals.
Buyende tops performance
Despite the challenges, Buyende emerged as the best-performing local government in the regional health-sector assessment, scoring 86.4 per cent, followed by Bugiri at 82.2 per cent and Kaliro at 81.3 per cent.
Kamuli scored 80.8 per cent, Iganga 80.7 per cent, while Mayuge and Jinja City each scored 77.7 per cent.
Bugweri scored 74.2 per cent, Namayingo 73.7 per cent, Jinja District 71.3 per cent, Namutumba 70.9 per cent and Luuka 69.6 per cent.
The review, held under the theme ‘A strong, responsive and sustainable health system supporting Uganda’s 10-fold growth strategy,’ calls for stronger health-sector performance to translate into better outcomes for mothers, newborns and adolescents across Busoga.