Aceng wants private hospitals to apologise for inflating bills for Covid patients
Health Minister, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng. PHOTO/ FILE
What you need to know:
- Ms Aceng also said only 69,000 out of 150,000 targeted health workers had been vaccinated against the virus.
Health Minister, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng said Thursday that private hospitals which have been hiking medical bills for Covid-19 patients in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ought to apologise to the public, arguing that it’s not time for them to make money.
According to her, it’s unacceptable that some private hospitals are charging upto Shs5 million per day to care for a Covid-19 patient.
“With Covid-19 we opened up to the private sector. They are charging up to Shs5 million a day. Some families have paid up to Shs200 million and they have still lost their loved ones. It is completely unacceptable,” Ms Aceng said in an interview on NTV’s On the Spot show hosted by Mr Patrick Kamara.
The interview happened just hours after Ms Aceng’s ministry said 34 more Ugandans succumbed to Covid-19 on June 15 as the total number of fatalities rose to 542 since March last year when the outbreak was confirmed in the country.
According to the ministry officials, 1,584 more people tested positive for the virus as the total number of confirmed cases rose to 67,215.
There are 950 active cases on admission in different health centres across the country with only 812, 118 Ugandans out of a total population of 41 million, vaccinated so far. Of these, a little over 8,000 have received their second jab, according to Ms Aceng.
“We have more vaccines on the way coming. There are another 688,000 doses coming in. We will get the vaccines… Getting vaccinated will not give you Covid-19 because the vaccines we are using are not live viruses. They are pieces or particles of the virus. There is no need for anyone to test before getting vaccinated,” Dr Aceng added.
According to government, a total of 48,823 people have recovered and only 1,228,618 tested for the virus since March last year.
Ms Aceng also said only 69,000 out of 150,000 targeted health workers had been vaccinated against the virus.
“The vaccines we are receiving right now were bought by the rich countries. They were hoarding them. They realised that they bought excessive vaccines and started distributing them. These vaccines come with a short shelf life. KCCA distributed some vaccines to the private sector to issue them out to the people free of charge. What we heard later is that some private sector actors are selling the vaccines,” she added.
