Covid treatment cost still high despite low infections
A health worker adjusts the oxygen cylinders in the Covid-19 unit at the Soroti Regional Referral Hospital last year. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Shs3.5m: Amount being charged by operators of the facilities per day to treat a critically ill Covid-19 patient in the intensive care unit
As the country registers a drastic decline in new cases of Covid-19 infections, private hospitals have said they are maintaining the previous cost of Covid-19 treatment because of high operating costs.
The operators of the facilities are charging an average of Shs3.5 million per day to treat a critically ill Covid-19 patient in the intensive care unit (ICU) while those with moderate disease pay around Shs1 million per day.
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Many Ugandans and politicians protested the charges, describing the costs as exorbitant and exploitative but the hospitals and Minister of Health Dr Jane Aceng, defended the costs, saying they were within range given the services Covid-19 patients receive.
This amount, in a country with a per capita income of around $1,039 (Shs3.6m), is largely unaffordable given the treatment duration which lasts about 20 days.
Our inquiries this week found that Medipal International Hospital, Victoria Hospital and International Hospital Kampala (IHK) don’t have any Covid-19 patients in admission currently.
Official statistics from the Ministry of Health indicate that only 11 patients are currently admitted to hospitals across the country, which is lower than the 271 who were in admission around January this year. Treatment is happening in public and private hospitals.
Dr Edrin Jjuuko, the chief medical officer at Victoria Hospital, told this publication the cost will not change because basic necessities for treating a patient have never changed.
“The cost wasn’t dependent on the number of patients but the service provided. I think people got it wrong that hospitals were benefitting from the pandemic,” he said.
Dr Jjuuko said what they are charging is not very different from what the government is spending on each Covid-19 patient.
The government, according to Dr Aceng, is spending Shs3 million per patient in ICU, nearly the same amount of money in private hospitals.
Like Dr Jjuuko of Victoria, Mr Peter Mulindwa, the IHK head of marketing; and Dr Richard Lukandwa from Medipal said their charges for treating Covid-19 have remained the same.
Dr Lukandwa said: “Treatment cost is fairly standard but there are [also] no patients. The wave of the infections driven by Omicron resulted in fewer people developing severe disease. Most cases were mild.”
The Uganda Healthcare Federation, the umbrella body for private players in the health sector, said of the Shs3.5 million cost private hospitals meet to treat a patient in ICU each day, Shs1.15 million is spent on purchasing drugs, Shs805,000 is spent on human resources and that bedding and ventilators take Shs560,000. The federation said laboratory tests, PPEs, consumables and administration cost them Shs1,050,000.
In contrast, of the Shs3 million spent on Covid-19 patients per day in public hospitals, the Ministry of Health said: “For critical cases in ICU, payment for personnel takes 5 percent [Shs150,000]. Medicine takes about 28 percent [Shs840,000] and supplies such as PPEs, laboratory test kits and other consumables take around 33 percent [Shs990,000].”
