‘Doctors Can Have Private Clinics’

By Vision Reporter MEMBERS of Parliament have reacted angrily to press reports alleging that they want a law to bar doctors working in Government hospitals from operating private clinics. The reaction follows demands by the Association of Surgeons of Uganda that the committee on social services apologises to them for its comments. The New Vision August 16 quoted the committee as having demanded an explanation from the Ministry of Health on strategies put in place to ensure that drugs and essential medical supplies were not stolen from hospitals. The committee chairman, Dorothy Hyuha said yesterday that the MPs main concern during its August 15 meeting was cost sharing and the effects of its reversal. She said that the committee had noted that the scrapping of cost sharing had created financial gaps, affected the morale of health workers and that there was great shortage of drugs and supplies. She said that the shortage of drugs did not mean that the drugs were being siphoned out of the hospitals. She said that The New Vision story was not a reflection of the committee’s proceedings. Some MPs argued that the surgeons’ letter was meant to belittle them. They said that the surgeons should have approached the committee chairperson for an explanation. Ends