Don’t cut funding to health, government told
Mothers wait for services at Okole Health Centre II in Kole District on June 16 last year. Experts warn that reducing the health budget will affect the vulnerable. PHOTO | BILL OKETCH
What you need to know:
- According to the World Bank, about 3.15 million additional Ugandans could fall into poverty, adding to the 8.7 million already living below the poverty line in 2017 if no mitigating measures are employed to address the adverse effects of the pandemic. As such, there is a need for comprehensive government interventions to support the poor and vulnerable households.
Experts and activists have asked government not to cut budget funding for health and education sectors, saying it will worsen the conditions under which Ugandans live following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Reagan Mugume, a research analyst at Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), said across the social sectors, especially education and health, Covid-19 has increased people’s vulnerability, and reducing budget funding to these sectors will weaken their capacity to support the poor.
“Worse still, 2021/2022 allocation to the social sectors has declined due to the projected slowdown of the economy at 3.6 per cent. Particularly, allocations to the education, health, social development, WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) and JLOS ( Justice Law and Order Sector) have all declined in nominal terms,” Mr Mugume said.
He was speaking at a dialogue on social protection based on National Budget Framework Paper (NBFP) 2021/2022 in Kampala last Friday.
Mr Mugume said according to NBFP, the budget allocation to education will decline by 0.9 per cent in 2021/22.
He said the health sector accounts for 35.8 per cent of the human capital development in 2021/2022 budget, but its allocation is expected to decline by 9.3 per cent (Shs2.781 trillion in 2020/2021 to Shs2.523 trillion in 2021/2022.
“The budget cut by 18.3 per cent in allocation to vaccination (clinical and public health programme) will undermine provision of basic health services to the poor,” he warned.
Mr Mugume said social protection will get only Shs77b, a 1.2 per cent reduction from 2020/2021 allocation.
“Yet with Covid-19 and increased life expectancy, the number of vulnerable people has increased,” he added.
Economists and academicians warned that cuts on health and education budgets will derail the government’s target of delivering sound social protection to vulnerable people.
They said the sectors require more resources for social distancing demands beyond vaccines, and the healthcare infrastructure demands are likely to increase.
Mr Stephen Kasaija, the director of social protection in Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, said more Ugandans now need social protection than before Covid-19.
He, however, said government over the years has paid attention to social protection programmes since the national policy in 2015.
“The government is implementing various social protection interventions, which include Public Service Pension Scheme, National Social Security Fund, Workers Compensation, Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment, Public Works Programmes, Social Care and Support Services,” Mr Kasaija said.
He said the Public Service Pensions Scheme (PSPS) is currently a non-contributory financed directly by tax revenues from the Consolidated Fund.
Social protection programmes seek to mitigate impacts of poverty and exclusion.
Dr Ibrahim Kasirye, the director for Research at EPRC, said Covid-19 has undermined Uganda’s macroeconomic growth and efforts for sustained poverty eradication.
Dr Kasirye said government has accordingly implemented several programmes such as the Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment (SAGE) targeting the elderly, Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF), and other support initiatives, including food relief.
“However, the population accessing at least one social protection programme remains limited in Uganda, at less than 3 per cent, and fiscal allocations are not aligned to the projected increased need for social protection coverage as planned for in the NDP III,” he said.
Dr Ann Pantelic, social policy manager of Unicef, said globally, well-designed social protection programmes have effectively reduced poverty and vulnerability among poor households through increased consumption and investment.
