Call Centre | Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation-Uganda (BU)

The National HIV/TB and Health Consultation Call Center (0800205555/0800305555).

Background

Uganda’s commitment to strengthening health systems under Vision 2040, the National Development Plan III, and the Ministry of Health (MOH) Strategic Plan 2020/21–2024/25 recognizes information and communication technology (ICT) and digital health as essential enablers of equitable and efficient service delivery.

The National HIV/AIDS/TB call centre has been an integral part of the fight against the HIV pandemic and has immensely contributed to intensifying prevention and awareness efforts about the epidemic and improving quality of care and treatment through providing consultant technical support to lower level health workers providing HIV/AIDS care and also the clients who seek assistance in HIV/TB and other health related issues making significant progress toward achieving the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets by 2030. Inaugurated by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with Baylor Foundation Uganda and funded by the CDC, the National HIV/TB and Health Consultation Call Center has been a vital resource since its inception in 2015.

Figure 1. The Call Center has since received over 38,000 calls, becoming a national asset in digital health.

OBJECTIVES

	To provide real time paediatric and adolescent HIV/AIDS/TB technical responses to consultations raised by health workers and clients across Uganda.
	To consolidate and guide the fragmented HIV/AIDS/TB referral network for complicated cases in the country
	To document, consolidate and disseminate HIV/AIDS/TB information to health workers and clients across the country through compilation of commonly asked questions.
	To create a platform for HIV/AIDS/TB information exchange thus improving knowledge and skills hence providing information of policy improvement.

CALL CENTER SERVICE PORTFOLIO

The call centre delivers a comprehensive suite of inbound and outbound services designed to support both clients and health workers.

HIV testing services
HIV prevention, care, and treatment
Mental health and psychosocial support services
Emergency response during outbreaks
GBV support services and referral mechanisms
Sickle cell disease consultations
Tuberculosis treatment and care
General health inquiries

Outbound services:
Our outbound services are designed to proactively engage clients, improve continuity of care, and enhance service quality. These include:

Intensive Adherence Counselling (IAC): Targeted follow-up for clinic clients with a viral load above 200 copies/ml
Client Feedback Surveys: Closed-loop engagement to assess satisfaction and the track Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Missed Call Follow-ups: Returning missed or abandoned calls to ensure no client inquiry goes unanswered

Client Testimonials.

CLIENT VEBATIM (HIVST)	RESPONDENT
“She explained to me well …. the kit was in Rukiga but she interpreted the results for me.”	78207.. females from Mityana
“She assisted me, counseled me and referred me to hospital”	76920.. female from Kampala
“The nurse I talked to told me how to read and interpret the results”	78268.. female from Butalejja

Sample FAQs.

I used an HIVST test Kit and the line appeared at C, what does it mean? How can I prevent HIV infection since my wife is on ART and I am negative after HIVST?
I have tested my wife using the oraquick and the line is on C… But now am wondering why we are testing using Saliva and yet you say it does not pass through saliva.
I tested and I was I saw two lines but since then I have constant Headache and I have begun losing weight what can I do?
My wife has been given a kit to help in self-testing how should I use it?
Where can I get a self-testing kit in fort portal?