Museveni commits sh125 billion to empower health workers
“I think it was a mistake. I think it was wrong for the Ministry of Education to say that you don't graduate as a medical doctor until you have done this housemanship course. It was a mistake to mix the two, and it will be corrected. We shouldn't waste time on that,” said the President.
Museveni faulted the education ministry for linking graduation from medical school to the completion of internship, saying the two processes should be treated separately.
STATE HOUSE - President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has pledged sh125 billion to enable health workers access affordable credit, upgrade their professional skills and create employment opportunities.
He made the commitment to the Uganda Medical Association (UMA) Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisation (SACCO).
This was on Friday (October 9) at State House Entebbe when Museveni met with medical interns from the current cohort and leaders of UMA, led by its president, Dr Frank Asiimwe.
He said he would support the doctors’ proposal for a sh125 billion fund from which health workers could borrow to finance further training and establish their own businesses.
He described the proposal as a smart investment, noting that the fund would constitute a one-time intervention rather than a recurring government expenditure.
The fund would also enable doctors who wish to pursue further specialisation through private institutions to access financing, while the government would continue prioritising its own areas of specialisation.
Museveni faulted the education ministry for linking graduation from medical school to the completion of internship, saying the two processes should be treated separately.
The current policy requires medical graduates to complete their internship before graduating.
“I think it was a mistake. I think it was wrong for the Ministry of Education to say that you don't graduate as a medical doctor until you have done this housemanship course. It was a mistake to mix the two, and it will be corrected. We shouldn't waste time on that,” said the President.
On the long-standing debate over medical interns’ allowances, he questioned why individuals or institutions that had sponsored students throughout their medical training would withdraw support during the one-year internship period.
He, however, said the matter remained open for further discussion, emphasising the need to consider the interests of interns alongside the government's financial capacity.
“What I am looking at is the issue of employing people who have graduated fully as much as possible. This year we are going to pay a little money, sh2 million allowances, but we shall continue the discussions about this matter,” said Museveni.
In 2021, Museveni announced that medical interns should receive a monthly allowance of sh2.5 million. However, the government later cited financial constraints and reduced the allowance to sh1 million.
The government also proposed that private sponsors who had financed students' medical education for five years should continue supporting them during the one-year internship, arguing that the interns were still in training.
Medical interns rejected the proposal and staged strikes that disrupted services in several regional referral hospitals.
The President said government interventions must be guided by affordability and sustainability.
He recalled that during Amanya Mushega's tenure as Minister of Education, about 11,000 students qualified for university admission, but Makerere University could accommodate only 2,000.
The President said he had advocated for private sponsorship to enable more qualified students to access university education instead of being denied opportunities because of limited public funding.
“On one hand, it is admitting that I can swallow only 2,000. However, why block the 9,000 if they can sponsor themselves? The families struggled and got money. Today there are thousands."
Museveni also expressed support for tax exemptions for health workers and proposed establishing a duty-free arrangement for essential items that support the delivery of health services.
UMA hails proposed financial support
UMA president Asiimwe thanked the President for the sh125 billion commitment and for providing medical interns with an opportunity to present their concerns directly to him.
He revealed that the sh1 billion the President extended to the UMA SACCO in 2017 had grown to sh13 billion, demonstrating the potential of the initiative to improve health workers' access to financial services.
Asiimwe emphasised the importance of public-private partnerships in medical training, deployment, promotion, accountability, monitoring, quality control and data sharing.
He noted that many Ugandans receive medical care from private health facilities and urged the government to continue recognising doctors working in both public and private institutions.
He requested that the President institutionalises two face-to-face meetings with the association annually to review and align priorities in the health sector.
On the welfare of medical interns, he said they are frontline health workers who report for duty in August and provide services around the clock, despite being classified as students.
He raised concerns that approximately 300 interns had not received their allowances.
Asiimwe proposed the introduction of three additional professional cadres — chief consultant, principal consultant and senior consultant — below the Director General level to strengthen career progression for doctors.
He also called for the recognition of all doctors, regardless of whether they work in public or private facilities.
The association leader further asked the government to raise staffing levels in referral hospitals to 75 per cent by the next general election and establish a retirement package for health workers comparable to those provided to men and women in uniform.
He also appealed for government support to establish regional medical hubs with capacities of between 50 and 100 beds to provide mentorship and practical training for young doctors.
On his part, health minister Dr Chris Baryomunsi, thanked President Museveni for his continued commitment to improving the country's health sector.
He said Uganda had registered progress through government policies and programmes, including universal education, which had contributed to expanding the number of universities training doctors from one to 13.
He also cited immunisation programmes and interventions against HIV as key contributors to improvements in life expectancy and reductions in infant and maternal mortality.
Health ministry permanent secretary Dr Diana Atwiine said the ministry regularly held consultations with stakeholders.
“We prioritise within what we are given, and we can't go beyond what we are given. When the ministry gets the money, we send it to the sites that are training the interns. The disbursement modality, once it changes, we can release money per month,” she said.
Atwiine said consultations on the outstanding issues were ongoing and that the ministry was preparing a paper to present to Cabinet for consideration.
At the end of the meeting, medical interns welcomed the President's commitment to addressing their concerns and pledged continued cooperation with the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders in improving healthcare delivery in Uganda.