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The government has been encouraged to work with the private sector to improve access to quality health services in the country.
Dr. Ian Clark, chairman of the International Medical Group and founder of International Hospital Kampala (IHK) said, pooling of resources through public-private partnerships can increase access to quality healthcare in the country.
“Government is good at preventive healthcare like vaccination and detecting emergencies like Ebola while the private hospitals are good at high level specialized healthcare services. Let’s work out a system. It’s not a competition,” said Clarke.
Dr. Ian Clarke made the appeal Friday at the Uganda Golf club during a fundraising dinner for the Hope Ward Initiative aimed at raising sh150 million to help children in need of complex surgeries.
Clark noted that some medical services such as surgeries can only be done expensively in private hospitals which majority Ugandans who are low income earners cannot afford.
Clark also urged the government to speed up the implementation of the National Health Insurance Policy to bring about equality in accessing healthcare.
“The hospital bills are very expensive and patients cannot afford to pay at once but through a medical insurance scheme and contributory pension for the public sector, access to quality healthcare can become easy,” said Clark.
At the dinner, winners of the Hope Ward Charity Golf Tournament were awarded. All the proceeds from the tournament will go towards life-saving treatment for newborns with birth defects at the Namuwongo based hospital.
