Mulago hospital stuck with heart patients
Dr John Omagino
Kampala- More than 400 people with heart disease cannot access services at the Uganda Heart Institute (UHI), a section of Mulago National Referral Hospital.
The authorities at UHI told Sunday Monitor that they are stuck with a number of patients mainly children, who cannot undergo operation due to lack of super-specialised supplies, sundries and implements.
The UHI director, Dr John Omagino, said the institute requires Shs6b to procure super specialised supplies needed to perform 400 surgeries.
Previously, UHI a specialised, public, tertiary care medical facility owned by Ministry of Health, was handling only 500 surgeries per year.
The number has since increased to 900 as the authorities’ grapple with space challenges.
Speaking during the Uganda Heart Association annual congress at Imperial Royale hotel on Thursday, Dr Omagino revealed that most the specialised supplies require a lot money since they are imported yet the facility is run on a limited operational budget.
“With the budget execution, we first pay off arrears and when you demonstrate that you can keep paying, people can give you less. We need funds to procure super-specialised supplies, sundries and implements to operational services,” Dr Omagino said, adding that the existing equipment is currently operating at 30 per cent capacity due to insufficient supplies.
“Uganda does not produce any of those things; we have to import all of them. The [2019/20] Budget Framework Paper that was realised does not even increase one shilling and we are getting back to Parliament,” he said.
Some of the implements needed include artificial pacemakers, valves, stents, and device closures among others.
Asked how the patients who need heart surgeries cope without the funds and supplies, Dr Omagino explained: “Some are kept on medicine, so we have been working with non-governmental organisation to get support. We are encouraging many of these corporate companies and banks to support the patients.”
Although the institute needs about $7.5m (Shs27.5b) to effectively operate, the government has only allocated $3m (about Shs11b) yet the facility has also cumulated domestic arrears to a tune of Shs1b.
Although UHI is seeking only Shs6b, the total budget shortfall is about Shs16b. However, if the institute gets all the money needed, it would handle 1,500 surgeries per year up from 500 surgeries currently.
When contacted on Friday the Ministry of Finance spokesperson, Mr Jim Mugunga, referred the matter to Ministry of Health, saying: “It is a sector planning thing. As far as I know Ministry of Finance has the mandate to consolidate sector budgets and not planning for an independent sector so it is something to do with the mother sector.”
Mr Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the Ministry of Health public relations officer, said UHI is an autonomous entity and should request the money from Parliament.
But Dr Michael Oketcho, the vice president of Uganda Heart Association (UHA), said there is need to sort out politics in order to boost the social services.
Worldwide, about 17.9 million people die each year from cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), an estimated 31 per cent of all deaths worldwide. In Uganda, more than 8,428 die each year as a result of heart diseases.
