People with disabilities body wants 10 percent of health budget for rehabilitation services

KAMPALA - National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU) has urged Parliament’s health committee, chaired by Hoima West MP Dr Joseph Ruyonga, to compel the health ministry to allocate 10 per cent of its budget to rehabilitation services and assistive technologies.

The recommendation, which forms part of position paper presented by David Nangosi, a programme officer, was made during a stakeholders’ meeting at Parliament on September 23, 2025.

“There is no designated budget for rehabilitation services, which severely limits the provision of comprehensive care. The 2025/26 budget allocates shillings 5.87 trillion to health sector, constituting 8.1% of the national budget,” Nangosi cited.

“Out of this budget allocation, there is little prioritisation of rehabilitation services by Ministry of Health, which leads to few functional rehabilitation centres able to serve the needs of persons with disabilities (PWDs), hence many PWDs remain with their conditions with little or no support in the Government rehabilitation facilities,” he added. 

The development follows a recent desk review conducted by NUDIPU in collaboration with the Center for Disability and Policy and the Uganda Media Women’s Association, which revealed that disability inclusion in Government plans and budgets stood at just 35 percent over the past five fiscal years.

And yet, Carol Mahoro, the head of the Disability Empowerment Centre Uganda, says rehabilitation does not only benefit Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).

“Incidentally, it benefits many of us, when you get an accident, you find yourself in hospital. On your journey to recovery, you need a physiotherapist, an occupational therapist, and an orthopaedic technician to take care of you. The orthopaedic technician is the one who provides the assistive technology in many cases for physical disabilities. When you are a mother and you have gone into maternity, get a complication and end up with a caesarean section, you need to go through the same therapy," Nalugya explained.

Unfortunately, she said the country had not paid much attention to this. So much so that Ruth Nalugya, the Executive Director of the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association Uganda (SHAU), emphasises that in their presentations to stakeholders, it is important to clearly disaggregate the applicability of the term.

“That we mention the early and long-term rehabilitation needs. You find some disabilities where these children will need rehabilitation right from birth throughout their life course and this is something that is under-looked,” Nalugya said.

Adding that in some instances, without early rehabilitation, chances are that costs of care for PWDs might increase threefold.

“Also, physiotherapists and occupational therapists have positions in general district hospitals, but they are not yet filled to 100 percent. It is very important that our members of parliament also take note of this,” she argued.

Arguing that this vacuum has invited quacks into the profession. Hence there is need to tighten regulations governing rehabilitation practices.

Waiver on diapers

However, Kyegegwa Woman MP Flavia Rwabuhoro Kabahenda (NRM) says one way to bring these issues to national attention is by petitioning Speaker Anita Annet Among before the budget cycle gains momentum.

To allow the Speaker to scrutinise their issues beforehand and throw her weight behind them during discussions on the budget for the forthcoming 2026/27 Financial Year.

She thinks this strategy could pave the way for their request to lift taxes on diapers, among many other essentials.

“We may have looked at women who produce babies and yet diapers and older persons, people with disabilities it is a lifelong material,” said Kabahenda.

Wheelchairs

Kole Woman MP Judith Alyek, who also chairs Parliament’s Equal Opportunities Committee, decried the high cost of assistive devices. Saying it is making life miserable for PWDs.

Assistive devices, according to the Persons with Disabilities Act 2020, include: wheelchairs, callipers, crutches, white canes, orthopaedic appliances, qualified readers, taped texts, audios, braille and tactile equipment, among others.

“About a month ago, I applied for some wheelchairs. I was like, I go to the field and meet these people crawling on the roads, young children crawling to school. They are interested in learning but have difficulties. So, I applied for 500 wheelchairs from an Organisation which I am following up with. They have agreed to give me 100, which will not be enough,” Alyek alluded.

PWD MP speaks out

That said, Alex Ndeezi (PWD MP, NRM) emphasises the need to engage with the Uganda National Association of the Deaf (UNAD) to better understand the communication needs of different individuals.

"There is a big difference between communicating with a deaf person who has been to school and with someone who have never gone to school and never used sign language. It is very important to have this mentioned very clearly and propose how it is to be handled," he stressed.