Butabika Hospital seeks sh4.7b for patients’ meals

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KAMPALA - Butabika National Referral Mental Hospital is seeking a budgetary allocation of sh4.7b for patients’ meals in the next financial year 2024/2025.

Appearing before the Parliament Committee on Health on Tuesday, January 9, 2024, to present the budget framework paper for the next financial year, Butabika Hospital Executive Director asked Parliament to increase its budget for meals to sh4.7b against the sh2.439b that has been availed.

According to Butabika Hospital, Executive Director, Dr Juliet Nakku, 313,000 patients are fed annually at an average cost of sh6,187 which includes breakfast, lunch, and supper, however, the ideal cost of feeding each patient should be sh15,000 for three meals daily.

“The current inpatient numbers are averaging 1200 daily in admission as against the bed capacity of 550. These patients get 3 meals per day which means that we have to improvise within the available budget. There is need to increase this budget since food is part of the treatment and hospital takes full charge of patient feeding,” she said.

About 20% of the admissions at Butabika National Referral Hospital are due to alcohol or other drugs with alcohol contributing over 40% of these. 

Data from the WHO commissioned 2014 nationwide non-communicable risk factor survey (STEPS) showed that 25.9% men and 14.3% women in Uganda were heavy alcohol users.

The 2014 Global Status Report on alcohol also indicated a per capita consumption of 9.8litres compared to 6.0litres in the African region. Alcohol was also associated with 5.8% prevalence of alcohol use disorders.