Activists urge govt to prioritise health budget funding
Patients and their attendants camp outside the endocrinology unit at Mulago Hospital in protest of non-treatment and provision of less food by the hospital. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- They further lamented that while the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for investment in the public health care system, government is proposing a reduction of the health budget.
Civil Society activists have urged government to prioritise health sector funding in plight of the Covid-19 era that the country is going through.
The activists, led by Akina Mama wa Afrika and the Coalition on Financing for Health Research and Development- are aggrieved by the move by government to cut the 2021/22 health budget by Shs258b (about 23%) instead of increasing it.
They say the reduction in the health budget to about 5-6 %, significantly falls short of the Abuja Declaration target that requires a state dedication of at least 15 % of its entire annual budget to the health sector.
“A proposal such as this one is particularly outrageous in the middle of a pandemic when thousands of Ugandans have been infected by coronavirus. Hundreds have died and a vaccine still remains out of reach. Funding for health at such a time should be non-negotiable,” the activists urged government on Friday during a workshop in Kampala.
Adding: “We contend that reduction in the health budget is a blatant disregard of the government’s commitments to prioritise the right to health and should be seen for exactly what it is; a dereliction of duty by the State, and betrayal of the promise to secure the future of Ugandans.”
They further lamented that while the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for investment in the public health care system, government is proposing a reduction of the health budget.
The activists were meeting Members of Parliament who sit on the health committee over the slash of the 2021/22 health budget.
Amuru District Woman MP, Ms Lucy Akello, one of the legislators in attendance challenged governments sense of prioritization.
“As a country, we have a lot of money but what are our priorities? The priorities are in security. They look at certain departments as irrelevant and useless. We shall bring these issues to the concerned authorities and I want to ask them how seriously they are to cut the health budget.” MP Akello said
Likewise, Kasambya County MP, Louis Mbwatekamwa Gaffa, said there is need to balance allocation of the health budget to all its departments and not only minding about Covid-19 as its the case.
