Personnel Profile Description
Dr. Vincent Oketcho, MBChB, MCH is A medical doctor by training, Dr. Oketcho holds a Master’s Degree in Community Health from Liverpool University in the United Kingdom, and extensive training and hands-on experience in HRH. He is a seasoned Public Health expert, with over 20 years work experience in Africa. A medical doctor by training, Dr. Oketcho holds a Master’s Degree in Community Health from Liverpool University in the United Kingdom, and extensive training and hands-on experience in HRH. Dr. Oketcho spearheaded the implementation of several HRH and public health projects funded by among others, PEPFAR, USAID, The European Union, Ireland Aid, and the Canadian International Development Aid. Until December 2019 he worked as the Country Director of IntraHealth International in Uganda and Chief of Party of the PEPFAR funded Strengthening Human Resources for Health project. In his twelve years of work with IntraHealth HRH projects, Dr. Oketcho has contributed to IntraHealth’s HRH strategic direction and spearheaded one of the most successful integrated HRH programs with interventions in health workforce policy and planning, health workforce education and training, and health work force management and performance management for a quality and performing health workforce. Dr. Oketcho was a UNICEF Consultant for the development of the Health Unit Management Committee Guidelines and Training Materials which have been adapted and extensively used in Uganda to build community capacity for co-management of health services.
As an HRH expert, Dr. Oketcho has led many HRH innovations and interventions including: supporting the development of Uganda’s first HRH policy (2006), 15-year HRH strategic plan 2005-2020, 10-year HRH Strategic Plan 2020-2030, establishment and national rollout of the integrated human resource information system (iHRIS), promoting the culture of evidence based HRH decision making by institutionalizing the production and use of annual staff audit reports, championing the introduction of performance management system with automated analysis of health worker attendance to duty to reduce absenteeism and to improve health worker performance, strengthening health worker regulatory system by establishing and rolling out District Health Supervisory Authorities (DHSA) in all districts of Uganda, and developing a mobile telephone directory for validating health worker registration and licensure status among others.
As a health systems expert Dr. Oketcho works closely with the School of Public Health of Makerere University and was appointed as Mentor by Makerere University School of Public Health for the work-based professional development Fellowship Program in Health Systems Management (FPHSM). The FPHSM was a 2-year collaborative program of University of Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine, Makerere University School of Public Health and Ministry of Health implemented from 2012 - 2016.
Working with the Government of Uganda at the Ministry of Health, he was responsible for human resource planning and policy development. While at the MOH Dr. Oketcho was one of the champions of the health systems reform that created the current district health system with a hierarchy of health centers, and expanded role of the Regional Referral Hospital (RRH) through creation of Community Health Department at the Regional Referral Hospitals to support the district health system.