Choose Mulago instead of going abroad for treatment — PM Nabbanja

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Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja has said Uganda must prioritise investment in its own health system, urging government employees to choose Mulago National Referral Hospital instead of seeking treatment abroad.

“Whether you are poor, whether you have money, you have to be treated in Mulago. The earlier we plan for our own hospital, the better,” she said.

Making the remarks on Thursday, the PM said treatment available at Mulago is comparable to what patients would receive in hospitals in neighbouring Kenya and elsewhere.

This was during a meeting between finance ministry officials and Mulago Hospital management to discuss funding gaps affecting the national referral facility.

Nabbanja said it is "terrible" that 57 percent of the hospital’s approved positions are vacant, meaning the hospital is understaffed.

To her, the deficit in staff affects service delivery because those available are forced to handle a heavy workload.

There has been mounting concern over the billions of shillings Uganda loses annually to medical referrals abroad.

Some reports indicate that an estimated sh30b is spent annually to treat ministers, MPs and senior government officers out of the country.

Other estimates suggest Uganda loses even more through medical tourism, with around $73m (about sh278b) leaving the country annually as casual Ugandans travel abroad for specialised treatment.

Specialised services

Health officials said strengthening specialised services at Mulago could significantly reduce this expenditure.

According to the hospital’s executive director, Rosemary Byanyima, the facility has already made strides.

“There has been significant progress in offering specialised services at Mulago, including neurosurgery, because most people with neural problems used to go abroad,” she said.

The hospital has also scaled up renal care and is now performing kidney transplants, while plans are underway to introduce liver transplant services after training medical teams in India.

But Byanyima was keen to noted that the expansion of specialised care is constrained by the shortage of specialists.

She said an additional sh41.64 billion is required to recruit more specialists and fully fill the gap.

Among the specialists urgently needed are nephrologists to manage kidney disease cases, many of which progress to end-stage renal disease, requiring transplant.

Health ministry permanent secretary Dr Diana Atwine agreed on the issue of personnel.

“At times we have the services, but we don’t have specialists to provide them, or the numbers are very limited."

Atwine said some Ugandan specialists working in the private sector or abroad are willing to join government if better wages are provided, and urged authorities to progressively increase salaries for specialists to attract and retain them.

'The earlier the better'

During the meeting, Nabbanja also highlighted several urgent funding needs at Mulago, including sh13.7b for equipment maintenance, sh6.18b for neurosurgical equipment, and about sh15b to complete staff housing for specialists.

She spoke of the link between accommodation and emergency response.

“You get specialists sleeping in places like Nateete or Kyaliwajjala. When a patient is dying, by the time they cruise through the traffic jam, somebody has died."

The prime minister said strengthening Mulago should be prioritised before the national budget is finalised because the hospital serves all government institutions and the wider public.

“The earlier we put money in our budget, the better."