The problems of Uganda’s Health Sector are the result of poor planning & outright corruption.As an MP and son of Entebbe, news of the Entebbe Grade B hospital and its proposed plans brought a smile to my face. But fast forward, the results have been disheartening.
The plan to have staff quarters and other support infrastructure close to and around the hospital was disrupted by land grabbing & misappropriation.
They even included a proposed space for an air ambulance to land close to the hospital, but most of the land was stolen.
Today, the staff have to rent or live miles away from the hospital, and in case of emergencies, patients have no option but to wait for a doctor to arrive from Kampala, at the expense of their lives.
The true rot in the Health Sector was exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Issues that we though were limited to a few hospitals turned out to be rampant and long term.
Poor & delayed salaries, drug shortages, drug theft, funds embezzlement et al, run deep from the lowest health center to the Ministry of Health.
The Hospitals of Lubowa & Mulago have been and continue to be at the center of these scandals. But instead of looking for a solution, authorities have turned their guns on health workers demanding for better conditions.
As legislators, we do our jobs.
We appropriate the funds, follow up on implementation and write countless reports to expose the wrongs within the system, but no significant action is taken.
Public outrage and demonstrations such as the #UgandaHealthExhibition are indeed the way to go if real change is to be effected#TUBALABISE.
