The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Parliament has been told that the Ministry of Health needs Sh36 Billion to complete Mulago Specialized Hospital.
Lower Mulago Hospital which was part of the Mulago National Referral Hospital has been converted into Mulago Specialized Hospital to offer specialized services.
Presenting a report in Tuesday to Parliament on the state of health service delivery in the country, the Minister of Health Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the rehabilitation works at the hospital is currently at 91%.
Upon completion, the hospital will provide specialized services including organ transplant (kidney, cornea, liver, bone marrow, and stem cell) and neuro-spinal surgery among others.
The hospital will require 76 billion shillings as operational funds which also includes recruiting additional expatriates.
Meanwhile, the Ministry needs to recruit 219 clinical specialist and 550 support cadres at National and Regional referral levels to fill gaps in the public sector.
However, recruitment requires 5.4 billion shillings. The ministry also needs a total of 58 billion shillings to train, recruit and retain specialists and super specialists in the lower health facilities.
Aceng says that the Ministry of Health made a request for funds from Ministry of Finance in January and it is yet to respond.
She also noted that the government needs to enhance salaries of specialists, clinicians and consultants otherwise most will abandon Regional Referral Hospitals for other jobs.
For instance, a professor earns 9.1 million shillings while a clinician earns 4.5 million shillings a month. An assistant professor earns 8.1 million shillings, a senior consultant earns 4.2 million shillings. A lecturer earns 7 million shillings while a principal medical officer earns 3.7 million shillings.
She also noted that all consultants who were employed in the Regional Referral Hospitals in this financial year have left to join the universities for greener pastures.
*****
URN
