Member Spotlight: Denis Bukenya

In the first instalment of our new series “Member Spotlight” we highlight the work of Denis Bukenya from the Human Rights Research Documentation Center (HURIC) and People's Health Movement and member of the Health Workers for All Coalition Steering Committee.

My commitment to realize health workers for all
I am a Health Rights Lawyer turned activist with a niche in Human Resources for Health. My commitment to realising the dream of health workers for all dates back to 2006 when I graduated from Makerere University school of law when I decided to pursue a career in health rights litigation. 

It is at that time that I was interested in the effects of health worker shortages on primary health care. I saw the importance of community health workers in the hard to reach communities and yet without the supervision of a qualified health profession, their good will is undone. Seeing the reality compounded my commitment as a health rights activist.

I have undertaken various campaigns through social media and publication on the matter of Human Resources for Health, also I have been part of campaigns to demand that the WHO regulates the issue of health worker migration. Also I have advocated for Uganda to have a health worker migration policy most to retain health workers that have been educated by the Ugandan tax payers' money.

As an activist in Uganda, I have been part of the voice that has demanded that the Ministry of Health focuses more on the recruitment, regulation and better remuneration of health workers. Through the health workers for all coalition, I advocate for the global operationalisation of the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel and the Commonwealth Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Health Workers.

I have presented my research at various conferences about the challenges of health worker immigration to primary health care. Also highlighted the need of emphasizing health worker recruitment in the race up to Universal Health Coverage by 2030. 

Members can reach out to me for
Human resources for health research and documentation

Advocacy and activism

Denis Bukenya