Cabinet suspends controversial medical intern facilitation policy for current cohort
The development is expected to ease tensions among medical graduates, who had raised concerns over a proposal to pay government-sponsored interns differently from their privately sponsored counterparts._
Health Minister Dr Chris Baryomunsi during plenary on Tuesday, August 18, 2026. (Courtesy: X/@Parliament_Ug)
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The Cabinet has suspended the controversial medical internship facilitation policy that sought to introduce different payments for government-sponsored and privately sponsored medical interns.
Health Minister Dr Chris Baryomunsi told Parliament this morning (August 18) during plenary that the decision means that all medical interns in the current cohort will continue receiving the existing monthly facilitation of sh1.2m, subject to tax, leaving them with approximately sh1m after deductions.
According to Baryomunsi, the decision was reached after wider consultations with all the stakeholders and then cabinet and President Yoweri Museveni.
According to Baryomunsi, the suspension applies specifically to the current cohort of 2,490 medical interns, who have been deployed across 77 accredited internship centres around the country.
He said the Government had listened to concerns surrounding the new policy and decided that the proposed differentiation in facilitation should not be applied to the interns currently undergoing their internship.
“The policy, which was being contested, has been suspended for the current cohort,” Baryomunsi told Parliament.
He explained that, as a result, interns will continue receiving the same facilitation arrangement that was in place before the new policy generated controversy.
According to the new policy, the Government had proposed that it would continue facilitating its students and that privately sponsored students should pay for themselves. The Government would pay for only meals of private students at the rate of sh483,334 per month.
Medical internship is a mandatory stage for many health professionals before they can obtain full registration and begin practising independently.
Interns are deployed in hospitals and other accredited health facilities where they gain practical experience under supervision.
However, the facilitation arrangements have increasingly become a source of concern as the number of graduates seeking internship places continues to rise.