Availability of essential maternal, neonatal and child health medicines and associated factors to their availability at selected high-volume public health facilities in Kampala city, Uganda: a cross-sectional study

Availability of essential maternal, neonatal and child health medicines and associated factors to their availability at selected high-volume public health facilities in Kampala city, Uganda: a cross-sectional study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Availability of essential maternal, neonatal and child health medicines and associated factors to their availability at selected high-volume public health facilities in Kampala city, Uganda: a cross-sectional study Irene Auma, Irene Nakiriggya, Sam Orech, Allan Komakech This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7294100/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background: Several interventions have been implemented in Uganda to improve the availability of essential Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH) medicines. Despite these efforts, the country still faces a 42% unavailability level of MNCH medicine. We determined the factors associated with the availability of essential MNCH medicines at selected health facilities in Kampala City, Uganda. Methodology: This was a mixed-methods health facility-based cross-sectional study at 12 selected health facilities in Kampala City. We directly observed up-to-date medicines using a WHO checklist to establish their availability at different health facility levels. For the qualitative study, in-charges/hospital administrators were interviewed using a semi-structured key informant interview guide. Qualitative data were analysed using Crewell’s guidelines, while quantitative data were analysed using SPSS version 22. Results: The study findings indicated that the level of availability of essential MNCH medicines was 73.6%. Availability of maternal health medicines and Neonatal & Child health medicines was 75.7% and 70.8% respectively. Medicine availability stood at 78% in health centre III level, 75% in health centre IVs, 60.4% in general hospitals, and 70.8% in referral hospitals. The average stock-out duration ranged from 30-90 days. The availability and use of guidelines and monthly stock-taking and updating were positive factors in the availability of essential maternal, newborn, and child health medicine. Insufficient funding, delayed delivery, lack of knowledge of supply chain management, low staffing and inadequate support supervision were negative factors. Conclusion: The availability of essential MNCH medicines was lower than the WHO’s recommended level of 80%. The availability of maternal health medicines was slightly higher than the availability of neonatal and child health medicines. Lower health facilities had better medicine availability than higher-level health facilities. Stock-out duration was long. We recommend that the government of Uganda support and build capacity for conducting monthly stock-taking and updating, and ensure adequate staffing, training and support supervision to ensure informed decisions on the supply chain management of medicines. Essential Maternal Newborn and Child Health Medicines Kampala Uganda Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers invited by journal 21 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 07 Aug, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 07 Aug, 2025 First submitted to journal 04 Aug, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7294100","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":627089920,"identity":"86ce5e9f-970f-48a4-b461-66ff435a0c5b","order_by":0,"name":"Irene Auma","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Clarke International University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Irene","middleName":"","lastName":"Auma","suffix":""},{"id":627089921,"identity":"bcddd476-3f73-4f77-9742-2b5fdad2b215","order_by":1,"name":"Irene Nakiriggya","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Clarke International University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Irene","middleName":"","lastName":"Nakiriggya","suffix":""},{"id":627089922,"identity":"d46079f7-2b23-4814-8a87-173447dd20bb","order_by":2,"name":"Sam Orech","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lira University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sam","middleName":"","lastName":"Orech","suffix":""},{"id":627089926,"identity":"fb2f67f0-fbd3-4e25-9d1c-8ef2367cbc0a","order_by":3,"name":"Allan Komakech","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA8ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACCRDxoABI8ADxByBmYydGS4IBWAtj4wyQFmZStDSDbGIgpEWyvTvxQ4KBXR4/z+Hjj21+bZPnY2Zg/PAxB7cWaZ6zmyUSDJKLJXvbEptz+24btjEzMEvO3IZbi5xE7gagFubEDed5DJtze24zArWwMfPi17L5R4JBPUSLZc9te4JapCVytwFtOZy44WyPYTPDj9uJBLVI9pzdZpFgcDxxZs+xxJm9DbeT25gZm/H6ReJ47+YbHyqqE/t5kg98+PHntu389uaDHz7i0YIKGNvAZAOx6kHgDymKR8EoGAWjYKQAAJESUYJkx5J3AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Clarke International University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Allan","middleName":"","lastName":"Komakech","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-04 19:23:18","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7294100/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7294100/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108491551,"identity":"2ac8af3c-ea81-4ed2-8823-0bd60a0805da","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-05 09:54:30","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":549653,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptMNCHMedicinesavailabilityrevised.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7294100/v1_covered_78f07623-bb6d-4cb0-a16e-792d4566ca73.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eAvailability of essential maternal, neonatal and child health medicines and associated factors to their availability at selected high-volume public health facilities in Kampala city, Uganda: a cross-sectional study\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"reproductive-health","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"reph","sideBox":"Learn more about [Reproductive Health](http://reproductive-health-journal.biomedcentral.com)","snPcode":"12978","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/12978/3","title":"Reproductive Health","twitterHandle":"@Reprod_Health","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC/SO AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Essential, Maternal Newborn and Child Health Medicines, Kampala, Uganda","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7294100/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7294100/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBackground: \u003c/strong\u003eSeveral interventions have been implemented in Uganda to improve the availability of essential Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH) medicines. Despite these efforts, the country still faces a 42% unavailability level of MNCH medicine. We determined the factors associated with the availability of essential MNCH medicines at selected health facilities in Kampala City, Uganda.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethodology:\u003c/strong\u003e This was a mixed-methods health facility-based cross-sectional study at 12 selected health facilities in Kampala City. We directly observed up-to-date medicines using a WHO checklist to establish their availability at different health facility levels. For the qualitative study, in-charges/hospital administrators were interviewed using a semi-structured key informant interview guide. Qualitative data were analysed using Crewell’s guidelines, while quantitative data were analysed using SPSS version 22.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults:\u003c/strong\u003e The study findings indicated that the level of availability of essential MNCH medicines was 73.6%. Availability of maternal health medicines and Neonatal \u0026amp; Child health medicines was 75.7% and 70.8% respectively. Medicine availability stood at 78% in health centre III level, 75% in health centre IVs, 60.4% in general hospitals, and 70.8% in referral hospitals. The average stock-out duration ranged from 30-90 days. The availability and use of guidelines and monthly stock-taking and updating were positive factors in the availability of essential maternal, newborn, and child health medicine. Insufficient funding, delayed delivery, lack of knowledge of supply chain management, low staffing and inadequate support supervision were negative factors.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusion:\u003c/strong\u003eThe availability of essential MNCH medicines was lower than the WHO’s recommended level of 80%. The availability of maternal health medicines was slightly higher than the availability of neonatal and child health medicines. Lower health facilities had better medicine availability than higher-level health facilities. Stock-out duration was long. We recommend that the government of Uganda support and build capacity for conducting monthly stock-taking and updating, and ensure adequate staffing, training and support supervision to ensure informed decisions on the supply chain management of medicines.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Availability of essential maternal, neonatal and child health medicines and associated factors to their availability at selected high-volume public health facilities in Kampala city, Uganda: a cross-sectional study","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-04-30 11:32:23","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7294100/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-04-21T13:29:15+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-08-07T08:49:53+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-08-07T08:48:35+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Reproductive Health","date":"2025-08-04T19:19:26+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"reproductive-health","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"reph","sideBox":"Learn more about [Reproductive Health](http://reproductive-health-journal.biomedcentral.com)","snPcode":"12978","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/12978/3","title":"Reproductive Health","twitterHandle":"@Reprod_Health","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC/SO AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"463e3292-87f7-45cb-81ef-acebdf55c6b6","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 30th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-30T11:32:23+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-30 11:32:23","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7294100","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7294100","identity":"rs-7294100","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}