Health activists make case for more funding to avert epidemics

Uganda’s profile as a hotspot for emerging and re-imaging infectious diseases requires adequate preparation to counter any outbreaks, failure of which could leave the country in a vicious cycle of attacks, health advocates have warned.

This, they say, “not only costs lives, but also has a negative economic impact where resources that would have gone to development are diverted to respond to outbreaks.”

To counteract this, the health activists have called on government to channel more funds to the ministry of health, and related agencies for continuous surveillance.

The country has in the recent past suffered multiple outbreaks including Ebola Virus Disease (Evd), Marburg, Yellow Fever, Anthrax, Rift Valley Fever, Meningitis, Avian Influenza, Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (Cchf) and Cholera.

The Covid-19 pandemic that ravaged the world in 2020 and 2021, brought the country’s health care system to its knees, with government scrambling for resources amidst shortages of medical supplies and human resource.

Addressing journalists in Kampala on Wednesday, Uganda National Health Consumers’ Organization (UNHCO) executive director Robinah Kaitiritimba said   continuous surveillance, early detection and prevention are key is disease fight.

 “The health and  economic impact of Covid-19 recently illustrated to us  why every country must improve its ability to prevent, detect and rapidly respond to deadly infectious diseases  and outbreaks, she noted.

She further called on the government to strengthen public health care and fund the functionality and institutionalization of the public health emergency operations center as well as the national institute for public health, which will be in charge of coordinating prevention of outbreaks, and the national one health platform.   

 “We have a resurgence of Covid-19, we have anthrax, we have outbreaks in the offing which present a threat, and if we don’t prepare for it we might be respond with regret,” Justinian Kateera, the in-country Coordinator, Global Health Advocacy Incubator added.

UNHCO programmes manager Mable Kukunda says an analysis of the budget of the ministry of health to prevent outbreaks is too little at Shs670m only.

‘Must prevent explosion’

Pleas by the health activists come as Parliament considers budget allocations for the financial year 2024/25.

Dr Ekwaro Obuku, a senior Technical Advisor for Policy at Makerere University, says funds spent on response far outweigh that which is spent on prevention.

 “Data shows that there is an increase, Uganda is not like any other countries, we are a hotspot for example we are the only country which has had 13 outbreaks of Ebola or Marburg. We cannot have the same preparedness like countries which do not have the same problem,” Dr Obuku said.

He added “We have to be ready to prevent an explosion.”

Steven Alor, an Economist at the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG, decried consistent low funding of Uganda’s health sector which has crippled critical service delivery.

Meanwhile, the health activists also called for intensive awareness creation and capacity building in communities, whom they say hold the key to prevention, and early detection.