Govt to probe health expenditure

By Francis Kagolo                                            

The health ministry has commissioned a study to establish how much money was injected into the health sector in two financial years.

 “The objective of this study is to track the amount and flows of financial resources into the health system in Uganda in financial year 2008/09 and 2009/10 and to respond to key policy questions in the health sector,” the director general of health services Dr. Jane Aceng said in a statement on Tuesday.

This is the fourth time Uganda is conducting such a study, the first one having been in financial year 1997/1998, followed by another in 1999/2000 and the third one which covered financial year 2006/2007.

The survey estimated to cost $423,000 (about sh1b) will be completed in 12 months, Aceng said.

It is funded by the ministry of health, the East, Central and South Africa Health Community, USAID, UNICEF, and UNFPA-Uganda among other agencies.

According to Aceng, the study is a fulfillment of the Government's commitment to institutionalize the national health accounts as enshrined in the global strategic framework signed with the World Bank and the World Health Organization.